Hit and Miss
by Pigwidgeon1706
Summary: Lily Evans' years at Hogwarts told from her perspective. Follow her as she deals with love, loss and the mysterious attacks happening in the safest place in wizarding world.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **A/N: Hi this is my first ever fanfic so fingers crossed it's not too bad. Jily is one of my favourite ships ever so I hope I can put that into words with a decent story. I've missed out some scenes we know happened in the books including Snape and Lily on the train so sorry! But it will probably work better for my story this way. I'd rather Lily meets James for the first time in class or at the feast.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy**

'Lily!' a voice called from the front door of my family's tiny flat. I sighed. There had been a knock on the door a few minutes ago but I didn't know who had come to call. I had just been leaving to go see my best mate Sev but I couldn't because of some visitor.

'Coming.' I called in return as my innards groaned. My bedroom I shared with my older sister Tuney; it was small with a threadbare rug, an ancient (not to mention broken) dresser with a small grimy mirror above it and taking up one entire side of the room was our bunk bed which had been our neighbours' before it fell into our possession. I walked into the dimly lit hallway. Like my room and the rest of the house it contained threadbare rug - this particular one ran the length of the of the hall. The walls were lined with sketches of flowers, Cokesworth (the town we lived in) and the countryside from the days when my parents were young and without children. Shop bought decorations were expensive so my mother and I had tried to decorate the house with sketches that we had drawn ourselves. They were unframed because we couldn't afford to waste money on such things and were simply pined to the wall. At the end of the hall stood my parents and a tall rather severe looking woman. She stepped forward to introduce herself.

'My name is Professor McGonagall and you must be Lily Evans.' she said looking me up and down as though accessing if I was indeed who she though I was. I tugged at my long auburn plait nervously and nodded.

'Yes ma'am.' She looked at me approvingly.

'You are aware of Hogwarts are you not?' I nodded. Sev's mum Eileen was a witch who had attended Hogwarts and his father Tobias had also done so but had failed his qualifications. Sev had got his letter from Hogwarts already and although he had assured me I would also receive mine I had been worried I wouldn't because the rest of my family were non-magic. 'Then you will already know why I am here. I have just explained to your parents what attending Hogwarts would mean and they have given me their consent should you wish to attend.'

'Oh yes!' I said wonderingly. McGonagall smiled. She actually smiled! Who knew she could do that?

'Then we had best head off to get your school supplies,' she turned to my parents 'and we will be returning in the evening around 5pm.' My parents both nodded grinning at me.

'Mum, dad could you tell Sev that I can't meet him for me please?' Again they nodded and all four of us headed through the front door and down the staircase onto the shabby street we lived on. My parents turned into the family bakery and left me with Professor McGonagall.

'We will be taking the Knight Bus.' She said with an air of someone walking into a set of gallows as she flung out her right arm. At once there was loud bang and a violently purple bus appeared out of nowhere. It looked quite out of place on my dingy street that had smashed beer bottles and needles lying in the gutter. A conductor stepped out wearing a slightly ruffled purple uniform.

'Welcome to the Knight Bus-'

'Yes we know!' cut in Professor McGonagall 'We don't need its history thank you!' I smiled. Clearly, Professor McGonagall was not a woman to be trifled with. She paid the fare for us both to a place called the Leaky Cauldron and we got in. It was only then that it occurred to me that I didn't have any money.

'Um...' I cleared my throat nervously. 'Ma'am I don't have any money. I'm really sorry I forgot and we haven't really got any to spare...' I trailed off.

'We have a fund at Hogwarts for pupils who cannot afford their supplies.' and with that she handed me a pouch of coins. They chinked merrily inside it. 'The bronze ones are Knuts and 29 of those equate to the silver ones which are sickles. 17 sickles equal a galleon and a galleon is one of the gold ones.' I thanked her again.

To say that the journey on the Knight Bus had been comfortable would have been a lie. It was an experience I wanted to forget so I focused on the place before me as we left the bus. The Leaky Cauldron turned out to be a pub as we pushed open the door and walked inside. It was crowded and smokey but luckily for me Professor McGonagall simply marched me through and into a small courtyard at the back. She then pulled out a 'wand' and tapped the third brick in the left. Immediately, a huge archway began to form and reveal a long cobbled street lined with a huge variety of shops. There were apothecaries, Quidditch (whatever that was though it did seem to have something to do with broomsticks judging by the window displays) shops, astronomy shops and a giant book shop called Flourish and Blott's which I knew would be my favourite by far. Professor McGonagall seemed to sense my excitement and the corners of her mouth twitched as she said

'Perhaps we'll go there last so that you get a good look at all the books.' I nodded eagerly.

A few hours later we walked along the street (I had found out it was called Diagon Alley) and finally entered the book shop. I had bought most of my things in a second-hand shop (my school uniform, textbooks, cauldron, telescope, glass phials and brass scales) but the rest had had to be brand new (my wand, ink, quills, parchment and potions ingredients). I still had some money left so we walked into Flourish and Blott's. My hands were trembling with trepidation. Professor McGonagall headed to the transfiguration section and I headed to the housework section wondering if there was any spell that would hep me adjust my uniform once it got too small. There was indeed a book on sewing which included a spell that expanded material. I decided to get that book, a book titled Hogwarts: A History (which I had come across on my way to the counter) and a book titled 'A Guide to Being Frugal: Refilling supplies and much more...'. As I brought them up to the counter the lady behind it looked slightly surprised at my choice of books but smiled nonetheless. I counted out how much I needed and gave it to her before I picked up my books again the books and walked back to Professor McGonagall.

'What books did you get?' she asked me curiously as she noticed the three large volumes I was attempting to carry along with my other purchases. I showed her and she read them quickly before looking at me sharply. Unsure of how to react to her gaze I looked at the floor and then followed her out of the shop. We sat in silence on the journey back and she walked me silently to the front of my family's bakery. She seemed in deep thought and only seemed to resurface when I thanked her for taking me to Diagon Alley. She handed me a ticket for the train that would take me to Hogwarts but still seemed distracted. We said goodbye and she literally disappeared with a loud crack. I in turn turned to face the shop front. The windows were slightly grubby and one of them boarded up because some drunk person had thrown themselves at it. I sighed as I looked at the building I called home, my good mood ebbing away, and opened the shop door. A light was on in the back room so I headed silently through the shop and put my stuff down on the table in the back room.

'Hey Lils.' My dad said whilst not taking his eyes off whatever it was baking in the oven in front of him. 'How was it?'

'It was great.' came my answer rather half-heartedly. 'Where's mum?'

'She was tired so she went to bed.' I tugged at my plait. My mum was ill. We didn't know how but she was. Most days she would be able to move around for a few hours but then have to go to bed because she was so drained of energy. Other days she couldn't even sit up in bed for too long because she was so weak. The doctors didn't know what the problem was and neither did we. Dad and I were extremely worried and my sister Tuney vanished round to her mate's house during the day and only returned at night in time for curfew at 10pm. She was avoiding the house because of mum being ill and not wanting to be contaminated and because of me. Ever since I was small I could do strange things like make twigs float through the air or make flowers bloom and that made me a freak to Tuney. She hated me and my magical abilities which is how I became friends with Sev. His parents were both magic and he told me all about the magical world. Well most of it. I thanked my dad and headed up to our flat above the bakery. I flung myself into bed without bothering to get dressed and fell asleep after worrying about my mum, Tuney and the new world I was entering.

* * *

The journey to King's Cross station was incredibly awkward. Tuney hated me and thought I was a freak. My mum had been too fatigued to send me off and my dad simply hoped that there would be no insults spraying at me out of my sister's mouth. In order to prevent this everyone is our ancient old car sat in silence. Tuney was probably considering ways to kill me, dad was probably thinking about tasks he had to do and I was thinking about how someone could get onto 3/4 of a platform. I mean was it possible to build platform 9 and 3/4? Couldn't the wizard/witch who had built the platform just have built a platform that wasn't in a busy train station filled with non-magical people?

We reached King's Cross with half an hour to spare and dad lifted my trunk into a trolley and wheeled it into the station for me.

'Listen flower, Petunia and I've got to run. I need to get back to the shop and Petunia's meeting some of her friends at 12. Have a great term and we'll see you at Christmas!' Dad hugged me goodbye and Tuney gave me a sour look before the two of them headed to the exit leaving me in the middle of a station to look for a platform I was pretty sure was made up. Thinking logically I decided to look for platforms 9 and 10 because platform 9 and 3/4 was likely to be around them. Reaching the two platforms I cursed myself for not asking Sev or Professor McGonagall how to find the fabled platform. I stood there for a second utterly overwhelmed by everything wondering if I should ask someone. I immediately crossed that thought out as I remembered everything Sev had ever told me about the relationship between the magical and non-magical world.

'I don't see why they choose this platform every year. It's packed with muggles and they decide it's the perfect place for the students of a wizarding school to wonder through' An annoyed voice sounded next to me. I turned to see a lady with dark brown hair and blue eyes talking to an almost identical girl (she looked around my age) who was pushing a trolley with a trunk. My heart seemed to leap in relief. 'Alice stop chewing your plait, for merlin's sake!' The lady who I took to be the girl's mother looked impatient as her daughter scowled. This was my chance I thought and decided to ask for help.

'Excuse me.' I said a little nervously.

'Yes dear?' The lady asked me. Her gaze was friendly if a little imperious.

'I've never been to platform 9 and 3/4 before and I couldn't help overhearing that you're magical.'

The lady laughed and said 'Do you need a little help dear?' I nodded. 'Not to worry dear. You can go through with Alice. She's starting Hogwarts this year too. It's really quite simple. Simply walk at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 and just keep walking. If you're really nervous do it at a bit of a run.' I moved my trolley to face the barrier. Alice did the same and grinned at me.

'Together?' I nodded again. '3...2...1...' We both ran at the barrier and I shut my eyes for good measure. My eyes were screwed up waiting for the crash. It never came. I began to slow down and opened my eyes. The sight that greeted me was incredible. Smoke from a scarlet steam engine named the Hogwarts Express hung densely in the air. Cats of every colour prowled the platform, owls hooted and toads croaked. This only added to the noise of the wizards and witches who stood on the platform. 'What's your name by the way? I never asked.' Alice said from next to me. She seemed unaffected by the amazing sight before us.

'Lily. Lily Evans'

'Alice. Alice Prewitt' We smiled at one another. 'We'd better find a compartment to dump our stuff in'

'Good idea' I agreed and we heaved our luggage onto the train in order to begin our search.

'Alice!' screeched the sound of her mother's voice. 'You haven't said goodbye!' Alice rolled her eyes at me and leaned out of the window to kiss her mum goodbye. She waved and turned back to me. We found a compartment and staggered under the weight of our trunks as we put them in the luggage racks. I plonked myself on a seat and took of my shoes.

'Much better!' I said smiling. Alice giggled as the compartment door slid open. Two girls stood in the threshold. One with honey coloured eyes and skin with black hair that tumbled down her back and the other with thick blond hair and blue eyes.

'Hi' Alice said at the newcomers.

'Are you first years?' the girl with the black hair asked anxiously. Alice and I nodded. 'Thank goodness,' she exclaimed 'Mary and I have been looking for someone decent our age for ages!'

'What do you mean decent? By the way I'm Alice and this is Lily.' Alice asked curiously and I grinned.

'Marlene,' said the girl. She indicated to the blond haired girl 'and this is Mary' who waved. 'What I mean by decent,' she said ' is that Mary and I met the most egotistical pricks ever in the last compartment.' Marlene groaned and I laughed.

'I'm sure they're nice when you get to know them.' I said reasonably. If Sev's anything to go by you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Sev has the greasiest hair known to man, always looks slightly disgusted and wears clothes that are stained and three sizes too big so he can grow into them to save money but I couldn't ask for a better best friend. He's always there for me and vis versa and I wouldn't change him for the world.

Mary snorted as she sat down opposite me. 'They wouldn't know what modest was even if it danced naked in front of them!' At that we all burst out laughing.

* * *

'The firs' years Professor McGonagall,' said the huge man who had taken us from the train to the boats and then to the castle. I thought his name was Hagrid. The stern women he was addressing I knew already because she was the one who had taken me to get all my school things.

'Thank you Hagrid' - get in! I got his name right first try. Sorry. That was a bit weird. 'I will take them from here.'

She led us into a chamber off the entrance hall and waited before the buzz of chatter had died down. Marlene winked at me and I grinned back.

'You are about to participate in a very ancient Hogwarts tradition. This is of course the Sorting Ceremony. There are 4 houses: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin. Each house has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you pass through wizarding education your house will be something like your family. You will share dormitories, have classes with, earn points for and compete in the house cup for whichever house you are sorted into. While the final preparations are made I suggest you smarten yourselves up.' And then she left the room.

'So what do you think?' Alice whispered as she brushed her hair with a little comb she had obviously had in her robes. Marlene, Mary and I stared at her blankly. 'Of McGonagall' she finished as if it had been obvious.

'I like her,' I said straight away. 'She took me to Diagon Alley.' The others nodded in agreement.

'She's nice - if a tad strict.' said Mary. Again we all agreed and laughed nervously.

'What - is - that?' a smirking voice sounded. Marlene and Mary collectively groaned.

'Here comes egotistical prick number 1,' Marlene whispered as we turned to face a boy with tanned skin, jet black hair which looked as though it was untameable and glasses that sat on is nose in front of hazel coloured eyes.

'What's what?' Mary asked coldly.

'That.' he drawled, pointing at me! I became extremely self-conscious all of a sudden and tugged at my plait as I looked at him.

'That is a girl,' Alice said calmly but there was a definite edge to her voice ' and her name is Lily. Got a problem with that?'

His smirk definitely dropped a little because it was him against three livid looking females and then me as an after thought. Just when I thought he was going to lay off another boy joined him. This it seemed that this was egotistical prick number 2 judging by Marlene's change in stance and by the fact that Mary's hands had curled into fists.

'Oi James. I have to say I agree with your confusion because I though she was just a fire on legs until about two seconds ago...' No.1 and No.2 both smirked and a few people tittered. No. 2 winked at me however and there was something about his smile that made me think he wasn't insulting me and gave me hope that he wasn't as much of a prick as Marlene and Mary said he was.

'We are ready for you now.' I breathed a sigh of relief as Professor McGonagall came back into the room. It was lucky because I doubted there was a witty comeback available to retort and also I reckoned that if she had come one second later Mary and Marlene would have started beating the two boys up. Now that would have been an interesting first day.

We, that is everyone on the chamber, followed McGonagall into the Great Hall. I immediately looked up to see the ceiling which was bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about that in Hogwarts: A History which was a fascinating read. The older students watched us in hushed silence. We gathered around the front where McGonagall stood with a scroll of parchment in front of a stool with a rather tattered old hat. It reminded me of my own clothes and home as well. I was determined not to cry as I remembered home and blinked back tears. Everyone was now watching the hat expectantly so I did the same. What happened next I was not what I had expected. A rip near the brim of the hat opened like a mouth AND STARTED TO SING. Yes I know, mental right? It took me about the entirety of its speech/song to come to terms with the fact that there was a talking hat in front me and that I was not on drugs. I missed what the hat had said completely and only came out of my reverie when everyone started clapping.

'When I call out your name, you will sit on the stool and try on the hat.' Professor McGonagall instructed. 'Abbott, George'

'HUFFLEPUFF' bellowed the hat.

'Avery, Marcus'

SLYTHERIN'

'Boot, Michael'

'RAVENCLAW'

'Black, Sirius' No.2, sorry, Sirius swaggered up to the stool and placed the hat on his head. The hat seemed to take a few moments to decide.

'GRYFFINDOR' Relief seemed to flicker across his face for a second but it was so fast I almost didn't see it. He swaggered over to the Gryffindor table and although they were all cheering many people seemed confused. Evidently Sirius Black was from a pureblood family as Alice and the others had described. She had said that most pureblood families all went to the same house. For example, all of Alice's family had all basically been in Gryffindor.

'Bulstrode, Aldric'

'SLYTHERIN'

'Clarke, Tom'

'HUFFLEPUFF'

'Evans, Lily' And that was the last thing I heard as the hat fell over my eyes and plunged the world into darkness.

'Curious,' said a voice in my ear. Evidently, this was the hat speaking. 'you possess lots of intelligence. Barrels of it I see... Your loyal too and hmm... always seeking the best in others. Interesting. But there is something that overwhelms even your ready mind. Better be... GRYFFINDOR!' The hat screamed the last word for the whole hall to hear and my house table erupted in cheering. I smiled contentedly and sat down turning to watch the rest of my year group get sorted.

A while later when all the students were fed and watered the Gryffindor prefects signalled for us first years to follow them. Marlene, Mary and Alice were also my fellow Gryffindor girls which was great. No.1 and 2 (James Potter and Sirius Black) were also sadly in Gryffindor but as Alice said you couldn't have everything in life. We followed the prefects too tired to talk or in my case remembering the way so that I wouldn't get lost in the morning. We went up to our respective dormitories boys up one staircase and girls up the other. The girls and I got ready for bed and collapsed into our beds, said goodnight and closed the hangings around our four poster beds. the other fell asleep quickly but I lay awake thinking. Today had had its merits but I wished that Sev had been put in Gryffindor with me. We had always planned to travel on the train together, sit in the boats together, be put in the same house together and spend our time at Hogwarts together. My last comforting thought before I drifted into my uneasy sleep was that Sev and I were best friends and we had promised each other that we always would be. Being in different houses I was determined would not effect our friendship.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **This is just the first chapter so I hope you liked it. Should I go into depth about all of Lily's school years or skim over them until about 5** **th** **year?**

 **Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **A/N: Thanks for reading so far. This chapter is the same as the last style wise but set in second year. The next few chapters will be like that (3** **rd** **and 4** **th** **year) just to establish character relationships a bit better.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy**

Sev wasn't there. I had waited for about fifteen minutes at our usual spot and I was beginning to worry. His dad had had a day off work at the mill today which meant he was at home and probably getting angry. I tugged nervously at my auburn plait of hair and decided to walk to his house to see if he was alright. When Tobias got in a rage he would usually after attacking Sev and Eileen storm off to the pub. I slid off the bench I was sitting on and began to walk barefoot along the cobbled street. There were a few smashed glass bottles on the ground which I leapt over as I hurried to Sev's house. About 2 minutes later I reached his house and knocked on the door. The Snape's house was on a street called Spinner's End. It wasn't a nice place to live. Here was where all the people even worse off than me lived. Yep. My town is made up of poor and poorer families; it's just a lovely place to live. All the houses on Spinner's End were in a pretty sorry state and Sev's house was no exception. Tobias was a failed wizard and therefore hated magic meaning that Eileen couldn't even magically improve the house to a state in which a family of three could live. The door opened at long last to reveal a dark and gloomy hallway behind a very sad looking witch.

'Lily!' she said after a few seconds. 'How nice of you to stop by. Tobias has just gone out but Severus is in his room. I'll call him down for you.' Eileen smiled at me although she looked like she was in agony. To me Sev's mum had a kind of sad beauty about her. To me her face seemed as though she had once been ugly but kind thoughts had been complimentary to her face. She was a lovely person to me and she got on well with my own mum. 'How's your mother faring?' she asked returning from the bottom of the stairs after calling Sev. My mum was Eileen's only friend and I knew it pained her as much as it pained me to see her so ill. I hung my head.

'Not any better.' I mumbled. Eileen shook her head sorrowfully.

'Well let's just keep our fingers crossed that she gets better.'

I never knew how people managed to change emotion so quickly. Perhaps it was a Snape family trait. I knew how easily I could forget my troubles if I saw one of my friends upset so maybe it was the same with emotions for Eileen and Sev?

'I don't know if she will.' I admitted. 'The doctors don't know what's wrong and the only advice they have is to get more rest. As if we were going to let her do anything else! It's a miracle if she can get out of bed most days. Even getting into a sitting position in bed is draining for her. Dad's trying the best he can to manage the shop and I help him as much as I can but his temper runs quite high with all the stress and he's even yelled at me a few times. I'm trying to help with my paper round too to earn more money but Dad refuse to take it saying it's mine and that I should spend it on myself. I used it to pay for my Hogwarts stuff but when I tried to give him the rest he shouted at me for making it seem like he can't provide for his family.' I was close to tears now and Eileen hugged me.

'What about Petunia? Can't she help too?'

At that I let out a harsh snort.

'Tuney? She's never around and hasn't been since she found out I was a witch. We're lucky if we see her at breakfast. She spends her days hanging out with her friends and avoiding me because…because I'm a freak to her and that means she needs to stay away. She doesn't do anything and I'm trying to help and yet Dad doesn't shout at Tuney. He only shouts at me. Mum's too tired to shout but if she could she probably would too.' Tears were rolling down my cheeks as Eileen released me. Using my shirt I wiped the tears away and sniffed.

'Perhaps you and Severus should go and play together. It will help let off some steam.' She smiled sadly at me and it was then that I noticed Sev standing there with a look of concern on his pale face. I mean seriously, where did he come from because I certainly didn't see him turn up? He held out his hand to me as he stepped out next to me.

'Come on Lily' he said as his hand wrapped protectively around mine. And I allowed a small smile to escape me as I became content in the hands of my best friend.

* * *

Steam poured out of the scarlet steam engine which stood in front of me. I smiled because that train meant I was going back to Hogwarts. The station around me was crowded an I stood on tiptoe as I looked for my girlfriends. I couldn't seem them but my eyes did find Remus Lupin and Sirius Black standing together so I made a beeline for them.

I'd been friends with Remus and Sirius ever since McGonagall decided our transfiguration class was being to noisy and gave us a seating plan. It was then that I found myself sitting in between the two boys. Remus I had only known by appearance and Sirius I had known through the fact that my best friend Sev was one of the many people he bullied and on second thoughts also the best mate of James Potter whom I disliked immensely. But to my surprise I became good friends with both of them. Sirius was loud, sometimes quite obnoxious, a bully and also a showoff. He had longish black hair which he often ran his hand through (unlike with Potter it wasn't annoying when he did it) or wore in a man-bun though once when we were both bored he had let me braid it. He had striking grey eyes and was extremely handsome but let me make it clear our relationship had only ever and would only ever be platonic. He wasn't always a bully but kind (to me at least), always up for a laugh and always happy to give me tips in transfiguration if I was struggling. Remus was quieter than Sirius but still just as fun. He had the same humour as me and also had the same passion for reading as me. We both loved the library and were not only transfiguration buddies but study buddies too. We often swapped non-magic books and both agreed that we disliked Wuthering Heights and that Pride and Prejudice was a much better love story than Romeo and Juliet. Remus had sandy brown hair that sat cheerfully on his head. His greenish brown eyes always seemed dance with intelligence but they were often drowned out buy the fact that he usually had dark circles under his eyes. He looked ill quite frequently and I had worked out that it was because he was werewolf. His condition meant he had to spend a few days every month in the hospital wing. I always brought him a steady supply of books and notes from the classes he had missed. It was the least I could do to make up for the pain he had to undergo every month. My monthly pain was nowhere near as bad as his and I once passed out because my cramp was so bad.

'Good summer?' I asked grinning at the pair of them.

'Not bad...' said a smug looking Sirius. Both Remus and I rolled our eyes. Sirius loved to make things seem way more dramatic and amazing than they actually were. Honestly, he was such a drama queen sometimes.

'I'll take that to mean it was awful.' I said still grinning. Remus chuckled whilst Sirius looked indignant.

'I'll have you know I snogged 2 girls!' he shot back.

'You didn't mention that in any of your letters.' Remus said with a slight edge to his voice but there was amusement twinkling in his eyes.

'No. He used some encrypted code instead.' I said and laughed. Sirius elbowed me in the ribs. 'Hey!' I adopted a high pitch voice and said 'Dear Lily, how are you? Not much has happened since I last wrote but what I can say is that I am no longer a pure man.' Remus roared with laughter and I doubled over clutching at my stomach whilst I continued to laugh.

Sirius groaned, knowing he had lost both Remus and I for a while, but then his face split into an evil grin as he looked at something behind him.

'Oi James' he called.

'Why you little-' I began before I was rudely interrupted.

'Evans' cried a delighted voice whilst I screamed inwardly at no one in particular. 'How's my favourite fire?' I disliked James Potter but no one could say I wasn't civil towards him. He had mad fun of me throughout first year, bullied my best friend not to mention countless others and hexed innocent people in the corridors. A side from that I had tried to find some good in him but had been unsuccessful. He was cocky, a showoff, cruel, loud not to mention big-headed and in short a massive prick.

'Well I'm going to find the girls so I'll catch up later.' I said forcing myself to be civil. Talking to Potter was like talking to a toddler; it made you unbelievably tired and you had to watch what you said. Walking off, I left the three boys and looked hopefully for one of my girlfriends. I saw Sev but knew better than to approach him whilst he was with his fellow Slytherins. I was unsuccessful in my search for the girls on the platform so I ventured forth onto the train tugging my trunk behind me. Luckily for me I found them in the first compartment I tried.

'Alice, Marlene, Mary!' I burst out as I slid the door open. All three looked up and grinned back at me.

'About bloody time!' Marlene exclaimed over the top of her Witch Weekly Magazine. 'We were about to send out a search party.'

Mary winked at me and I dumped my stuff on the seat next to her. Alice and I then heaved my trunk onto the overhead shelf.

'We were getting worried.' Alice said quietly. 'The Daily Prophet has been full of articles about this lot calling themselves the Death Eaters and their leader Voldemort. They want to purify the wizarding race.' The way Alice said the word 'purify' made me certain it wasn't good news. Her voice was filled with disgust as she said it. 'There's been a few attacks on muggles and some deaths too. Mum says it's those Death Eaters trying to make a point.'

Marlene shook her head in disgust and muttered something incomprehensible under her breath. Mary and I looked at each other. We were both muggleborn which meant we were born into non-magic families. We were not welcomed into the wizarding world by all wizards and witches. There was quite a few that believed us second class citizens and not fit to possess magic. Marlene and Alice were both pureblood meaning they were in no danger from the 'Death Eaters' - well unless they openly disagreed with them.

'Let's just hope the Ministry put a stop to them before they do anymore damage.' Mary said finally. We all nodded in agreement but deep down something told me it would only get worse.

'Exploding Snap anyone?' Marlene said into the silence. We all nodded, grateful for a distraction from what we had just discussed. I looked at my girlfriends and felt warm inside. We would always be there for each other no matter what life threw at us. I smiled and returned my mind to the game of exploding and thanked God for the incredible friends he had given me.

* * *

We took horseless coaches up to the castle instead of the boats like in first year and then walked through the Entrance Hall into the Great Hall. We took our seats at the Gryffindor table and I waved at Sev a discreet wave which he returned. I then greeted the Marauders (James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew) and the other two Gryffindor 2nd years Frank Longbottom and Kieran Mckinnon. Marlene had the smallest of crushes on the latter. We watched the 1st years get sorted and cheered any newcomers to Gryffindor. Once the Sorting Ceremony was over and the headmaster Professor Dumbledore had given his speech the sound of talk resumed as people ate, laughed and caught up with one another.

'I'll be on the Quidditch team this year.' The arrogantly confident voice of Potter wafted down from further up the table. I chewed on my food trying to resist the urge to yell at him to shut up. Marlene was looking slightly put out by something. Then it dawned on me.

'Marls, you'll be fine.' I said comfortingly. 'You'll try-out for chaser and get the position. We've all seen you fly and everyone knows you give Potter a run for his money. Besides he prefers seeker to chaser so he'll probably go for that.'

'Yeah!' Mary said grinning. 'You'll kick his arrogant little arse in tryouts'

We all snorted with laughter and our year group fellows all looked at us curiously.

'What are you laughing about?' a suspicious Potter asked. To which the four of us chorused:

'You!' And burst out laughing once more. Potter looked seriously put out and looked even more annoyed when his fellow Marauders were also roaring with laughter at the look on his face.

'Stop laughing Evans; it makes you look even uglier!' he sneered at me. My peers and I suddenly went quiet. The light from the floating candles flickered across his lightly tanned skin and I could see the Crescent moon shown by the Great Hall's ceiling reflected in his glasses. His hazel eyes betrayed no emotion and I mimicked his expression on my own before turning back to my food silently. Eventually, everyone returned to their own conversations and Mary and Alice promptly began to debate which one of them was allowed to get married to the lead singer of the band 'The Golden Snidgets'. A smile formed on my face as Marlene joined in arguing and I a felt another surge of fondness for my girls.

'Lily tell them that me and Daniel are meant to be!' Alice whined from next to me. I stretched slightly before answering.

'I don't know about that Alice but I do know that I'm going to get married to the drummer, Ricky.' The four of us giggled.

'Good choice.' Marlene said grinning.

'He is quite mysterious and ever so hot.' Mary said dreamily 'But Daniel's still better looking.' And the debate commenced again while I zoned out.

The feast finally ended as well as the fight for Daniel Stromdale (the lead singer of The Golden Snidgets) and his hand in marriage. The four of us walked companionably up to the entrance of Gryffindor tower realising only as we reached it that we didn't know the password. But Remus came to our rescue.

'It's Lethifold' he said smiling at us. Sirius grinned from behind him only to be followed by Peter. I knew Peter through our inability to fly on a broomstick. Madame Hooch the young flying teacher had pulled her hair out over us two and our fear of heights. She had decided to tutor us together and although neither of us had really improved we had become friends because of it. Peter was short with mousey brown hair that lay flat on his head. He was plump with a round face and was scared of the dark. I was not as close to him as to Remus and Sirius but we were still on first name terms. Potter surprisingly, was not with his mates but sadly arrived a second later with Frank and Kieran discussing Quidditch or something similar.

'Lethifold' Mary said to the Fat Lady (a portrait which guards the entrance to Gryffindor tower). The Fat Lady's frame swung forward to reveal the entrance. The 10 of us walked through, said goodnight and went up to our separate dormitories. Mary and Marlene raced up to our room to try and reach the bathroom first. Marlene won and Mary was left sulking in front of the locked bathroom door while Alice and I laughed at her.

Around 9 pm we were all done with getting ready for bed and I collapsed onto my bed and drew the curtains around my four-poster. It was so comfortable and much unlike my bed at home. I remembered on my waking up in this bed the first time and actually having to remind myself that I was in fact Lily Evans and not Elizabeth Bennet. It had been an alright day but I was back at Hogwarts now which meant it was all so much better. The castle wall hid me from everything. No sister telling me I was a freak, no Death Eaters and no waking up at 4 am to do my paper round and help set up the family shop. In the castle I was safe wand with that thought I fell into a naïve sleep.

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **I'm doing this layout again for 3rd and 4th year. In 5th year lots of stuff happens so I reckon that's when I'll go into more detail. 6th and 7th year will be more detailed too.**

 **Please Review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **A/N: This is the same style as the other two chapters. I've corrected most of the tense issues in the other two chapters. I rewrote some of Chapter 1 so check that out!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

It was a dull end to the holidays. The sky seemed to reflect my family's mood; it was a blank grey that seemed to engulf the world around me. Tuney had turned 16 and spent her time in London at work in a firm called Grunnings. She was doing an apprenticeship in secretarial work. Although she never had a kind word to say about me the house seemed empty without her things in our bedroom. She lived in a flat provided by the company with some other girls who were doing the same apprenticeship as her. At 16 she was a bit young but Tuney had wanted to do it so by parents let her. Mum was too weak to argue and also seemed not to care. When she had asked Tuney if we could come and visit Tuney went off on one about how shameful this family was and how none of her London friends would ever see us if she had anything to do with it. Ouch. But mum hadn't had the energy to yell back and had simply given in to Tuney's insult. I had been out with Sev that day and only come home to find Mum crying on the kitchen floor where she had evidently collapsed. Dad still worked his arse off in the bakery and I tried to help him as much as I could. He still lost his temper with me often and in a way it was lucky I had to run the house as well because it meant I wasn't always in his way.

I walked along the street with my hands in the pockets of my emerald green shorts. My grey gingham shirt sleeves were rolled up and I hummed a non-distinct tune as I continued on my way. When I reached the start of Spinner's End I stopped. It was Sev's street and for the first time in years he wouldn't be home. He was staying with his friend Avery and his absence had meant I was alone. My Hogwarts friends were all abroad. I had never been abroad though I had learnt German at school which I continued to teach myself at Hogwarts. I loved learning new things and teaching myself extra spell or whatever that we didn't learn at school. My non-curriculum books from the wizarding world were full of interesting spells which I wasted no time in learning. This often gave me the tile of swat but I didn't care because magic was a gift I had been presented with and I wasn't someone who took magic for granted. At the end of Spinner's End I turned left and headed towards a set of shops. My family's bakery was the only one around but the rest of my area's shops were a few streets away hence the walk. I made my purchases at the Grocer's and at the Butcher's before heading to the flower shop. I had a little money left from my paper round that had not been spent on school supplies which I used to buy flowers for my mum. She spent her days in bed and the flowers cheered her up. Sometimes, on days where she wasn't as weak, she would draw them to keep herself occupied. The shop bell tinkled as I pushed open the door.

'Ah. Young Miss Lily.' The shop owner, Mr Smith, greeted me as I looked at the flowers on offer. The shop looked rundown. The same could be said about anywhere in Cokesworth because the residents didn't have much money. But what made places look bearable was the people in them. Mr Smith and his wife always managed to cheer up a place because they were always charming and happy. They always with their flowers slipped in a few sweets for the children who came to the shop or if the customer was someone who often went hungry they would slip in a can of soup or something similar. My parents and I did the same because out of the people in Cokeswoth we were one of the least poor just like the Smiths and we made it our responsibility to share our 'good' but still incredibly small fortune with our neighbours.

'Do you have any Daffodils left?' I asked the beaming Mr Smith. He nodded.

'I've got some in the back.' He left to fetch them. Yellow would brighten my parent's room nicely and we didn't have a sketch of daffodils in the house yet. Mr Smith returned with a bunch of flowers and handed it to me. I gave him the money and left. As I passed Sev's house I glanced at it sadly. It looked empty and abandoned despite the fact that there were still residents in it. Through one of the grimy windows I saw Eileen cooking and Tobias drinking. I sighed and headed home.

I didn't enter the bakery but when up the staircase to my front door. The heavens broke as I reached the door. Fat droplets of rain fell down on to me as I unlocked the door. Pushing it gently open I stepped through the threshold and shut the door behind me. The flat was silent. I slipped off my black flip-flops and padded across the threadbare carpet into my parents room. Mum lay sound asleep emitting little snuffling snores every so often. I deposited the daffodils in a vase by her bed, kissed her forehead and left the room. I had chores to do so I got started forgetting about everything else for the next few hours while the rain pounded the windows.

* * *

Platform 9 and ¾ was packed with people. I stood alone waiting for the appearance of one of my friends. I watched enviously as parents hugged their children goodbye. My dad had dropped me off at Kings Cross and left because he had to dash back to the shop. Tuney didn't live with us anymore and didn't care that I was going anyway and mum had been asleep. I was alone.

Shaking away the self-pity I decided to head onto the train in search of at least somewhere to sit. The train was almost empty because it was still 10.30 and most people were still on the platform. I shuffled along the corridor hoping to find someone I knew. Perhaps I should have specified because as God answered a tanned black haired boy with glasses jumped in front of me blocking my way.

'Evans!' Potter's delighted voice practically bellowed as he HUGGED me. I pulled back glaring at him which only made him smirk.

'Well as kind as it is of you to remind me of my surname, I would rather not have been placed in the company of a prick to be reminded.' I replied with a distinct air of disgust. James Potter was someone I disliked immensely and I struggled to be civil with him. Instead I opted for trying to get him to leave me alone in any way I could.

'Evans you wound me.' He countered and mimed being stabbed.

I grimaced at him. 'Perhaps you could display your unimaginable kindness again and move out of the way because you're blocking the corridor.' This was true and Potter scowled at me because the second he moved accidentally (and it was an accident) elbowed him in my haste to get passed. 'Sorry!' I said automatically causing Potter to give me a strange look. Ignoring him I continued on my way.

'Lily!' cried an ecstatic voice as I moved up the train. Alice's head was sticking out of the compartment next to me and smiling.

'Alice!' I said with equal enthusiasm. Mary waved her copy of Witch Weekly at me from inside the compartment. I looked around the compartment frowning because Marlene wasn't there.

'She's with McKinnon.' Mary stated in answer to my questioning look. Alice and Mary giggled and I nodded knowingly. Marlene's crush on Kieran McKinnon had increased hugely over the summer since his family and her family had gone on holiday together. Most of her letters to me over the summer had consisted of amazing thinks Kieran had done

I dumped my stuff in the luggage rack and sat down. I was putting my feet up on one of the seats when Marlene finally appeared. She was holding a copy of the Daily Prophet and looked annoyed.

'This not going so well with McKinnon' Alice asked consolingly. I shook my head at her and indicated to the newspaper.

'Look at this!' Marlene said shoving the newspaper in my face. On the front was a picture of an abandoned street which had a shape hovering over it. The shape was a skull with a snake for the tongue – otherwise known as the dark mark which was the symbol that the Death Eater's cast over somewhere they had attacked. The title read 'Mass Muggle Killing on Ministry's Front Door'. I groaned. '100 muggles are dead!' Marlene practically shouted into our compartment (luckily the door was shut). 'And all the Ministry's done is said they're sorry. Only that they're fucking sorry! That's it? That's all they even bothered to bloody say. They don't even sodding care!'

Mary looked unsure of what to say as did Alice.

'Marls they can't do much about it.' I said calmly. 'According to the article there's no lead to go on. Anyone who could've been a witness is dead.' I too was annoyed at the Ministry of Magic's reaction but there wasn't anything we could do about it.

'Yeah but they could at least say they're trying to prevent any more attacks.' She growled. I shrugged and said:

'True but we can't do anything to change the Ministry's priorities or actions. We're only 13.'

Just in time to prevent Marlene from having another rant about the Ministry the compartment door opened. Four boys stood in the threshold and one of them was most unwelcome. The Marauders grinned at us girls. My girlfriends and I all collectively groaned because although we got on well with three of them when put as a four they could be a nightmare. Patter was smirking and Sirius too but he winked at me. Remus and Peter both gave me an apologetic smile which instantly told me that Potter's visit was extremely bad news.

'Evans, we meet again!' he exclaimed before returning to a smirk. 'I wanted to ask you a question but at our last meeting you ran away so I couldn't.'

'What a shame.' I replied dryly.

'I was wondering is perhaps you would join me on a date sometime?' he asked smoothly. I simply frowned at him. What on Earth did he want? It seemed that the tosser was planning some kind of prank on me. Well I wasn't going to fall for that one! Besides even if he was serious I disliked him far too much.

'I'm sorry but I'm going to have to say no.' He stood there for a few seconds looking shocked. Potter had probably never been rejected before. Bless him!

'You'll be saying yes by the end of the year mark my words.' He answered regaining his smirk.

'Whatever lets you sleep at night Potter.' I said sweetly. Both Sirius and Remus mouthed the words 'Sorry about that' at me as me and my girlfriends waved them off.

'What a git.' stated Mary matter-of-factly once the Marauders had left.

'After the arsehole he's been and still is you had every right to say no.' Marlene added.

'Yeah,' agreed Alice. 'After you've rejected him a few times he'll get the message.'

'A FEW!' I exclaimed. The others laughed at my sour expression but I eventually joined in too. The rest of the journey was uneventful except when we teased Marlene about Kieran McKinnon. We changed into our school robes and I used a few spells to adjust my robes so that they fitted me. My chest had expanded a little during the summer and my hips too which made me slightly self-conscious about it.

* * *

When the Sorting Ceremony was do and Professor Dumbledore finished his rather ominous speech about forces outside the castle walls talk broke out and Hogwarts tucked into another delicious feast. My girlfriends immediately began discussing Daniel Stromdale (the lead singer of The Golden Snidgets) and his new hairstyle. They were comparing him to Sirius and while Sirius showed off Remus and I began discussing The Merchant Of Venice and whether justice was actually served in the end. Although both Sirius and Remus were both engrossed in their own conversations they kept glancing at Potter, then at each other, then me and then each other in a worried sort of fashion. I was about to ask when Potter answered the question. He pointed his wand at his throat muttered something which could only have been 'Sonorus' and stood up.

He stepped into the gap between the Gryffindor and the Ravenclaw table and cleared his throat.

'Excuse me.' He drawled. 'I have something I would like to say.' The whole Great Hall fell silent and all eyes were on Potter. Sirius and Peter were snickering silently and Remus had despairingly put his head in his hands.

'Lily Evans, as you know I am pretty amazing. I'm an amazing chaser, extremely attractive, exceedingly clever, and really funny not to mention all the girls love me. So I just wanted –'

'Potter if you're now available as an escort you may as well tell everyone how much your services cost and be done with it.' I cut in. The whole hall erupted with laughter – even the teachers. Professor Dumbledore raised his goblet at me his eyes twinkling. He raised his goblet at ME! The laughter eventually died down and Potter unfortunately continued.

'So I just wanted to ask if you wanted the honour of dating me?' At that my insides groaned collectively. Slowly, I turned to my food and finished eating my lentil soup as I contemplated my next move. Delicately, I took a sip of water and patted my mouth with a napkin. I rose from the Gryffindor table and stood in front of Potter. Expressionlessly I met his gaze and turned away from him. I walked out of the Great Hall with my eyes determinately fixed on the sanctuary of the Entrance Hall. Once I was safely in the Entrance Hall I let out the breath I had been holding.

I wandered up to Gryffindor tower hoping that by the time the girls reached the dormitory I would be ready for bed and could pretend to be asleep.

'Mandrake' I said to the Fat Lady who swung open and I stumbled into the common room. It was as I had expected – completely empty. I hurried up to the girl's dormitory and began getting ready for bed as fast as I could. Not fast enough. As I left the bathroom the sight of Marlene, Mary and Alice came into view. They were all grinning and as soon as the bathroom door shut behind me they all squealed and hugged me.

'You young lady were brilliant!' cried Alice.

'Amazed and inspired!' nodded Mary.

'You got some sass in there Lily!' Marlene said happily whilst poking me in the ribs. I groaned. 'And now after our celebration I believe the bathroom's free.' Both she and Mary began struggling in their attempt to get to the bathroom first. To their dismay Alice simply sauntered past as they wrestled one another. It was my turn to laugh as I got into bed. Sleep came in an uneasy wave but the wave knocked me out.

* * *

The Sun was pouring in through the windows of my dorm. The sunlight tickled my face and I smiled at their warmth. Glancing at my alarm clock I saw that it was 6.45am. My roommates were still sleeping soundly but I decided against falling asleep again and slid out from under my covers. I padded across to my wardrobe and picked out my school robes and uniform. I headed into the bathroom and got ready. The sun was still steaming in and I sighed contentedly. Hopefully, I though as I headed down to breakfast, the Sun was a good omen and as I glanced up at the bewitched ceiling in the Great Hall it seemed so. The weather was perfect and once I had grabbed my timetable I decided against sitting inside and so took some food and went outside to sit by the lake.

It was a beautifully still morning. Nothing disturbed the lake's smooth surface nor did anything ruffle the grass around me. I ate peaceably and wondered about what was the year ahead going to be like.

'Lily?' I heard Sev's voice sound from behind me.

'Sev!' He smiled at me and sat down beside me. 'We haven't spoken since the start of the holidays. What've you been up to?'

'Well you know I went to Avery's for the summer.' I nodded and forced myself not to scowl. Avery and all the rest of Sev's Slytherin friends were just as cruel and horrible as Potter. They too bullied anyone weaker than them and it was widely known that they planned to join the Death Eater's once they were old enough. They practiced the dark arts openly and hated muggleborns. They called muggleborns the really horrible name 'Mudblood'. They were Sev's mates so I tried to see what Sev saw in them but just like with Potter I had given up trying to find something good about them. 'Well his dad taught me loads of new spells. It was wicked! And I've even invented one myself. It's called Sectumsempra.'

'That's amazing Sev. What's it do?'

'It cuts the person you cast it on just like about seven blades at once would!' he said enthusiastically. I looked at him disgusted.

'Why on Earth would anyone need a spell that does that? That's barbaric!'

'For your enemies of course. Like on Potter for example.' It was the way he said it so casually that made me feel uncomfortable. I disliked Potter but I still didn't think he deserved to be cut the way seven blades at once would.

'Sev someone could die from blood loss that way. I don't think there's any scenario where it would be acceptable.'

'But Lily if they've been really annoying you recently or something...' he seemed irritated that I wasn't seeing the genius of his spell.

'No Sev! That's just cruel!' I cried standing up.

'Lily wait! WAIT!' he yelled after me but I continued to make my way into the castle. So much for a peaceful morning, I thought bitterly as I sat angrily down by my girlfriends at the Gryffindor table. Sev couldn't follow me here, I thought savagely, he wouldn't want his precious Slytherins to think he was chummy with a 'mudblood'. There had been a time when I had though me and Sev would be best friends forever but I knew that to be wrong. He was ashamed to be seen with me just like Tuney was but for different reasons. I was determined to remain friends with Sev but I knew noe that we would never and could never be best friends. And with that I resurfaced into my friends debate about surprise, surprise who got to marry Daniel Stromdale.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I added an extra bit to this one cause I felt like it. I hope you liked it. Only 4th and 5th year's journey to go before the story kicks off. I've corrected most of my previous chapters though there's still a few error though not as many as before. YAY!**

 **Please review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **A/N: It's 4** **th** **year and hopefully this chapter isn't too bad. I'm looking forward to writing 5** **th** **year as a whole. Is there anything you want to happen in 5** **th** **year? Btw the money is equivalent to its value in the 1970s in Britain – hope it's correct.**

 **Enjoy :)**

I stood behind the counter of Evan's Bakery bored out of my mind. There were never a lot of customers, let alone at 3pm. Mum was ill and Dad had driven to the centre of town where the posh lot in Cokesworth lived. My neighbourhood was poor and the same could be said for the surrounding neighbourhoods but the centre of Cokesworth was different. The houses there were big and inside them lived all the rich twats of the town. They had money to burn and my dad was there to teach his self-defence class to his paying customers. Dad had originally wanted to be a policeman in order to help combat the crime rate in my area which was how he knew self-defence (and the fact that he had a rough childhood). However, the world had had different plans and my dad had taken over his parent's bakery after his older brother had died. He usually ran the classes once a week to add to our miniscule income but when I was home from the holidays he ran them almost every afternoon because I could stay and watch over the shop and mum wouldn't be alone. He had taught me self-defence after one of the boys at school had beaten me up when I was eight.

What did I do to help out? Well, I had a job at one of the big houses doing the cleaning, laundry and so forth while the actual housekeeper was visiting her family for 6 weeks, which was something she did every year. Mum used to do it before she became ill and after she became ill Eileen did it for two summers until Tobias found out and beat her for it. It was how I had funded my Hogwarts things and the remainder I had snuck into our family savings when I did the accounts at the end of the week.

Overall, my day fell into the same pattern. I woke up at 7am and made my and my mum's breakfast (Dad woke up at 5am). Then I would start on my chores around the house before running errands to the shops. Straight after that I would cycle on my ancient bicycle to the big house to perform my job there and then once I was done rush back home to make my dad's launch which he would take with him to his afternoon class. After that I would make sure mum took her medicine and ate something before taking over the shop and spending the rest of my afternoon there. At 6pm I shut up shop and made supper. Dad would usually arrive around 7pm and at that time I would disappear into my room to reply to my friend's letter and read. Finally I would go to bed and sleep only to repeat the day again a few hours later.

The shop bell tinkled which brought me out of my daydream. Mrs Jenkins – a middle-aged lady who lived across the road in the bottom half of a cramped house. The top half of the house was where her daughter Maggie lived with her husband Jeff and her 4 sons. Maggie had first fallen pregnant at 16 with her eldest son Sam. Much to Mrs Jenkins disgust Maggie had then married the man who had made her pregnant. Needless to say Mrs Jenkins disliked her son-in-law.

'You got any loaves left?' she asked in a distinctly annoyed voice. I nodded and showed her the remaining bread. 'I'll go with the wholemeal one. Don't trust the white bread myself.' I smiled at that and started to wrap up the bread in old newspaper.

'That's 26 pence then please.'

Mrs Jenkins handed over the change and immediately began to complain about everything.

'You know Mags is pregnant again. I'm telling you she can't fit any more that 4 in that bed she's got for the boys. Lord knows what we'll do when their older. And Jeff is being a right pain in the arse – I mean he said to me that perhaps I don't need a whole flat to myself and that we should share the entire building as one house. But I said to him I said "I don't care if you're married to my Mags but I will never share a bloody house with the likes of you!" The cheek of him!'

The one thing I liked about supervising the shop was the conversations I had with my fellow neighbours.

'Why Mags married him I have no idea. There was a rich lad who liked her but when she got knocked up with that flea-bag's child he moved on. I tell her every day that she would have been better off with him but she wouldn't listen when she was 16 so there's no hope now! Promise me Lily dear, when you get married, he's a good bloke and not a piece of scum.'

'I will Mrs J.' I grinned at her. 'When he comes along that is…' I added as an afterthought. Mrs Jenkins muttered something inaudible under her breath and left the shop. I shook my head in amusement as she began to leave. I felt sorry for Maggie most of the time and with 4 soon apparently to be 5 children to feed it wasn't easy to get by. Jeff wasn't a bad bloke but compared to the 'rich lad' he would never measure up in Mrs Jenkins' eyes. The 4 boys had a single bed between them which was cramped with two boys at either end. I had an idea.

'Mrs J.!' I called. She turned to face me questioningly. 'The boys' can have my bunk bed and maybe I can take theirs?' I answered in explanation. Mrs Jenkins actually smiled at me.

'Lily Evans you're too generous. You're a good girl.' Mrs Jenkins actually stepped behind the counter to hug me. I was extremely taken aback.

'I'll bring it round at 8 if that's okay?' She simply nodded in delight before leaving the shop in a considerably better mood than when she had entered. The boys would still have to share but at least it would be one at either end rather than two. I closed the bakery that evening in a contented manner having helped someone. I smiled to myself and headed upstairs to my family's flat.

* * *

The platform was packed and people jostled me as I made my way towards the scarlet steam engine. Eventually, I reached it and walked into the sanctuary of the train. But apparently the station had only been the calm before the storm as I was almost knocked to the ground by a mass of dark brown hair.

'Lily!' the hair squealed. I heard someone chuckle behind the mop which obscured my vision.

'Alice?' I said as I gingerly removed the arms which were wrapped around me. I was indeed Alice who had hugged me and the person chuckling turned out to be 3 people: Frank Longbottom, Kieran McKinnon and a Slytherin called Ben Fortescue. Ben was a Slytherin who hated everyone in his house and was best mates with Kieran and Frank. It was lucky that Gryffindor had almost every lesson with the Slytherin's because otherwise Ben would have been surrounded by people whose views he disagreed with. He was a pureblood but disagreed with his Slytherin peers that that made him better than a 'Mudblood' (or in other words me) and that made him unpopular. He was friendly and a good laugh most of the time. I liked Ben but let's make this clear, in a platonic way. SO SHUT UP ABOUT CRUSHES INTERNAL MONOLOGUE!

'Where were you? The girls and I were worried.' Sure enough I saw the rest of my girlfriends in the compartment behind Alice. 'You know there's been more attacks Lily. Don't scare us like that.'

'It was Tuney. She wanted to talk to mum and dad so we couldn't leave on time.' This was true. Tuney had turned up out of the blue to introduce us to her boyfriend and decided also to take the opportunity to let me know I was a freak. She was 17 which meant she was old enough to make responsible decisions but I highly doubted this when I looked at her boyfriend. He was called Vernon and looked like a whale but I tried to tell myself there was some good in him. I tried and failed as he turned his piggy eyes on me and spoke extremely slowly.

'I-hear-you-go-to-a-special-school'

Tuney must have told him I was mentally impaired.

'Lily? Are you with us?' sounded Marlene's voice. I blinked and realised I was in the compartment with my luggage in the luggage rack and was sitting on one of the seats.

'I am now.' I answered, smiling sweetly. Mary laughed and Alice rolled her eyes.

'I was asking you how you're summer was' said a slightly disgruntled Marlene as she threw herself down onto a seat and whipped out a copy of Witch Weekly.

'It was fine.' I responded hoping that no questions would be asked.

'Is that it?' Mary asked and I nodded whilst tugging at my plait. 'Well, I'm going to tell you all about the Isle of White AND about the cute muggle boy I met there.'

Alice groaned and I laughed. Mary was not the kind of person to leave out details when it came to boys which was sometimes more of a curse than blessing. Marlene grinned from behind her magazine.

We settled into the journey and when we were about an hour away from Hogsmeade we resurfaced from our separate activities. Alice and Mary stopped their game of exploding snap, Marlene closed her one of her many magazines and I put down my beloved, well-thumbed copy of Pride and Prejudice. We changed into our school robes.

'Lily!' gasped Mary.

'What?' I asked, bewildered.

'You look so… so…'

'Curved?' suggested Marlene with a smirk.

'Yes that's. You've got yourself a figure, darling!'

'Thanks Mary.' I said tugging at my plait and clutching my robes self-consciously. The other three laughed at my discomfort and dragged me into the corridor as the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. We got off the train and my eyes fell on a group of boys who were doubled over with laughter.

I felt warmth inside of me as looked at Sirius and Remus laughing together. The two were a bit like my brothers and seeing them cheerful made me cheerful too. My eyes moved fondly over Peter and came to rest on the tallest of the four. Instantly my smile became a scowl as I looked at Potter. His tanned skin, messy black hair and hazel eyes made my blood boil. Luckily the girls and I headed towards the carriages and I didn't see Potter again until the feast.

* * *

The feast had begun and I wasn't there. I was riding the crimson wave and had to dash to the bathroom as I received an extremely bad cramp. I doubled over in pain as I shut the bathroom door behind me. The stabbing sensation worsened and I sank to the floor clutching at my stomach. Clenching my eyes shut, I thought about how easy guys had it. They complained that being kicked in the balls hurt but at least it wasn't guaranteed that they would be kicked. My cramps were a given though admittedly not always bad. I whimpered as it got steadily worse.

There was a knock on the bathroom door and I heard it squeak open.

'Evans?'

I didn't open my eyes and clenched my teeth as I bit back another whimper. There was no way that Potter would see me weak.

'Pray do tell. Is there a reason you're sitting on the floor of one of the many girl's bathrooms with your eyes shut?'

Oh piss off Potter, I thought but of course didn't say because even when in immense pain it was important to remain civil.

'It would be best if you left. This, as you so kindly pointed out, is a girl's bathroom and I don't know how happy the female population of Hogwarts would be if you invaded their secret world.'

'Oh, what a wonder: the mysteries of the girl's bathroom have been revealed to me!'

'Potter in the present climate I would prefer if you refrained from you hilarious humour.'

'But I couldn't my dear Evans because I know how it pleases you. It would be simply cruel to deprive you of it.'

I thought longingly of the painkiller in my trunk while the headache of words continued out of Potter's mouth. His words became a blur of noise as the familiar stabbing sensation seemed to spread and sink deeper into my innards.

'Evans? Evans!' was the last thing I heard before the pain engulfed me.

* * *

When I awoke I was no longer in the bathroom but the hospital wing. The young matron Madame Pomfrey was in the process of carrying a large amount of bottles to one of the cabinets which lined the back wall.

'Do you want some help? I asked sliding out of bed to help her carry some of them. She turned to face me with a look in her eye that plainly said students didn't often offer to help her. I got on well with the school matron because of how often I saw her. Every full moon, I would sit with Remus until she took him to the place he transformed. The morning after I would bring him books and chat for a while. I also had a keen interest in healing spells which she was only too happy to encourage.

'If it's not too painful then go ahead.' At that, I took half of the bottles from her and carried them carefully to the cabinet. 'That's some painful cramps you get if you passed out from them. What is it? Second time it's happened? Mr Potter carried you here and almost didn't leave until I threatened him with a month of detentions.' She laughed at her last words. 'Me? Give him a detention? It's not even in my power to do that but he scarpered alright.'

I smiled at the image of Potter being scared of Madam Pomfrey.

'Can I please go back to the feast now Madam Pomfrey' She didn't look pleased but obliged. As I was leaving she pressed some chocolate into one hand and painkilling potion into the other. I thanked her and tucked them gratefully into my robes before heading towards the Great Hall.

As I neared the double doors into the Great Hall, I hesitated. Everyone was going to stare at me as I walked in and I hated being the centre of attention. I sighed and pushed open the door. There wasn't hush as I walked to where my friends had saved me a seat but the babble of talk got considerably quieter. Hogwarts students were incredibly nosey.

'Where were you?' Mary sounded annoyed.

'Yeah, you disappeared to the bathroom but no-one spends two hours in the bathroom.' Marlene added. Even Alice looked annoyed.

'Cramp.' I answered and all their faces split into one of understanding. Potter looked at me from down the table. Remus looked exasperated and Sirius was smirking. Peter's face was obscured by Potter's torso.

'Oi! Evans!' he cried with an expression that plainly told me what he was about to do. 'Seeing as I saved you, you owe me a date.' Sirius was howling with laughter at the look on my face or possibly Remus'. I could image Peter was chuckling too.

'No thank you Potter.' I was a civil person after all as much as I wanted to rip Potter's head off. Him and his prank of asking me out. He just wanted to taunt me on how no one else would ever ask me out. The sad thing was he was probably right but I tried to ignore the fact as much as possible.

Sirius snorted as Potter mumbled something about being grateful that he bought me to Madam Pomfrey when I passed out from being 'poisoned'. I grinned into my dessert as I heard he thought that I was poisoned.

'Yeah, I was just poisoned.' I stated off-handedly to my friends in a perfect impression of Potter when he got a Quidditch injuryand tried to pass himself off as brave or heroic. We all laughed but stifled it quickly as Professor Dumbledore began talking.

'Welcome to another year at Hogwarts.' He smiled warmly at us. 'We have the privilege to be united here unlike so many others outside of these walls. Dark forces gather outside of our sanctuary and are the wind which blows out a candle. But we are the flame because we unite and care for one another and as long as that continues we can never truly be harmed. Make friends with your fellow houses. Forget old prejudices and reconcile because our sanctuary is only a sanctuary if you make it one. And with that it's off to bed. Chop, Chop!'

On that slightly ominous ending we headed off to bed. Once I was in bed sleep did come but it came uneasily. The hubbub of chatter faded from around me as I drifted into a world of troubled dreams and men with red eyes.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **This chapter was bad so I'm sorry about that. I was suffering from a severe case of writer's block. The stuff with Mrs Jenkins was kind of irrelevant but I want to establish Lily's character and how she interacts with other people/her surroundings. No Sev in this chapter but he will be in the next one. I promise!**

 **I've changed my mind about how I'm starting 5th year. I was going to do the first chapter like this but I think I'll settle for something different. No spoilers for that.**

 **Please Review :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **A/N: It's 5** **th** **year! The layout of this chapter is going to be slightly different as this year goes in depth.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The summer of 1975 had been unusually chilly. An icy breeze slunk its way into the kitchen of my house through the gap between the front door and the floor. I shivered and hugged myself in an attempt to maintain my body heat. I was cleaning the house because Tuney and her boyfriend were coming for lunch. I scrubbed the same counter for what seemed the umpteenth time and it still looked as grimy as it had done before I started cleaning it. I gave up and adjusted the temperature of the hob that a pot of soup was boiling on. My job in the centre of town started in 20 minutes meaning I left the soup at a simmering temperature and shrugged on my coat before heading out into the bitter cold. My ancient bicycle leaned against the wall and I got on warily before heading off to the big house where I worked.

Apparently I was not the only one mad enough to be outside because Maggie, who lived across the road from me, was leaving her house pushing a rickety old pram in front of her. Her 4 boys too were outside and were playing a game of football with the other kid from the area. I waved at all the little ones and Maggie as I cycled passed before they all disappeared from view as I picked up speed.

The big house in which I worked was owned by Tuney's friend Claire and her family. I was only required to do a daily clean of the house and do their laundry whilst their housekeeper was away but I still disliked my job. Of course, I didn't tell dad that or he would have insisted I stopped. We needed the money I brought in to pay for the extra medicine mum needed and to pay for my Hogwarts things which were always expensive (second-hand or not).

Once I was back home, I finished preparing lunch and began anxiously straightening the few threadbare cushions we had on the sofas.

There was a knock on the front door.

I straightened my dark maroon skirt and forest green knitted jumper before answering the door. Three people stood in the threshold or rather two people and a whale with piggy eyes. Dad, Tuney and Vernon headed inside in an attempt to save themselves from the cold but failed because our flat was just as freezing. Dad grinned at me as he went passed and offered to take everyone's coats. Tuney simply scowled at me but pretended for dad's sake that she was being polite.

'Lily.' She said with a nod and moved into the living room. Then it was Vernon's turn.

'L-i-l-y, it-is-good-to-see-you.' He said in a way that one might address a very small child. It was painful to think that Tuney had told him I had mental issues but she disliked me so it was almost certain she had. However annoying or offensive I found Veron's patronising way of speaking to me, I decided to play along so that the lunch would go smoothly. Tuney was my sister and if Vernon made her happy then I would make sure I didn't mess anything up between them. I therefore followed him therefore silently into the living room.

The four of us seated ourselves around the dining table and began to eat. Talk was painfully dull from the happy couple's side of the table. Vernon worked at his father's drill company, Grunnings, and that was where he had met Tuney. She had been doing her secretarial course and Grunnings and with her permanent position there secured she had then met Vernon.

'So my father says to the idiot "We give jobs to people not to vermin."' Vernon and Petunia laughed heartily at Vernon's 'funny' story and dad joined in with a very forced laugh. I tugged at my plait and sat in silence. I had been silent for the entirety of the meal and when Vernon had asked me about my school, Tuney had answered for me. It was an uncomfortable meal and when they had finally left and I was doing the dishes, I wished for the first time in my life that I wasn't a witch. If I wasn't a witch then Tuney would never have disliked me, she would never have grown distant from me and she might never have met that whale. There was a time when she would have listened to my judgement but that was when I was 8 and she was 11. I was 15 now and she was 18. I knew deep down that Tuney didn't just dislike me but hated me. I just refused to see it because it would hurt if I admitted it.

I walked into my parent's room to see my mum stir from her sleep. She smiled weakly at me as I pulled out my copy of Pride and Prejudice.

'Lily, we're up to the best bit aren't we?' I nodded and began to read:

 _Elizabeth felt herself growing more angry every moment; yet she tried to the utmost to speak with composure when she said,_

 _``You are mistaken, Mr. Darcy, if you suppose that the mode of your declaration affected me in any other way, than as it spared me the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner.''_

 _She saw him start at this, but he said nothing, and she continued,_

 _``You could not have made me the offer of your hand in any possible way that would have tempted me to accept it.''_

 _Again his astonishment was obvious; and he looked at her with an expression of mingled incredulity and mortification. She went on._

 _``From the very beginning, from the first moment I may almost say, of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form that ground-work of disapprobation, on which succeeding events have built so immoveable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.''_

And with that, Mum had drifted off again. I kissed her forehead and left the room. Heading to my own the thought occurred to me that I was extremely jealous of Elizabeth Bennet's ability to stand up for herself in a dignified way. I sat down on my bed and began to read the letters I had received that morning. There were two: one from Alice and one from Remus. The letters were hardly long but it was nice to her from my friends. Most of them wrote once or twice a week from wherever they were. Remus was in Turkey and Alice in France.

 **A letter from Remus Lupin to Lily Evans:**

Lily,

Please save me.

The rest of my partners in crime have turned up on MY holiday. Sirius turned up with James about two days ago and they're driving me insane. About 20 minutes after their arrival the entire hotel staff had pink hair and their uniforms had turned a violent purple. Yesterday they burst into my room while I was having a nap and tipped a bucket of ice cold water all over me. Some of my chocolate has also gone missing which I suspect has something to do with them too.

Peter arrived today but he isn't too bad. He's spent his entire time so far throwing up after some food he ate didn't agree with him. I'm with him as I write this because James and Sirius just laugh every time they see poor Peter clutching his stomach. I kicked them out so I could write this in peace (well as peaceful as it gets when there's someone vomiting next to me).

How are you? Anything interesting happened since my last letter?

Remus

P.S It's 33 degrees here! *Insert smug face* How warm is it by you?

 **A letter from Alice Prewitt to Lily Evans:**

Lily,

How are you? I feel like I haven't written in ages but I only wrote a few days ago. Well, loads has happened since then. Guess who I bumped into whilst shopping in Paris?

Frank! Yes, THE Frank Longbottom and bloody hell he's 'summered' well. He was so tan and his cheekbones, Lily, his cheekbones have sliced their way into my heart. We're meeting up for lunch and wandering around Paris TOGETHER. I need your calm here Lily! I'm going spare and need advice on what to wear and…well… everything! It's going to be a disaster. Is it a date? Is it not a date? I have no idea about these things. I need you, Marls and Mary to help me but you're not here. Why is the world against me Lily? If he'd asked me out at school everything would have been better cause you guys would have been there.

Please write back ASAP otherwise I will go insane.

Love,

(from a terrified) Alice

I grinned despite my two friends dilemmas and began writing replies. I wrote to the girls too about Alice's predicament with Frank and to Sirius telling him not to ruin Remus' holiday or I would hex him when we got back to school. Smiling satisfactorily at my replies and began to get ready for bed.

I undid my plait, brushed my hair and then braided it into another deep red plait that hung over my shoulder. I never wore my hair down because it was impractical. After washing my face and cleaning my teeth I sank into bed. I feel asleep ready to wake up to another eventless day.

* * *

There was one week remaining of the summer holidays and it felt as though the 5 weeks that had passed had been a waste of time. I unlike most people, I had worked the entirety of the holidays. They were never the six weeks of rest that everyone else at school had but a boring cycle of events. I didn't complain. It was necessary work.

The shop bell tinkled and Eileen Snape walked in; she had a nasty bruise on one of her cheeks and her lip had a cut with a freshly made scab on it. Tobias' back at drinking again, I thought savagely. She smiled at me as the door shut behind her.

'Lily! I feel like its been ages since we've had a natter.' I grinned at her as she reached the counter. 'Oh, I'll have 2 plain rolls and a white loaf please.' I began getting her chosen bread as she began to chat.

'You know what I heard from Maggie when I was at the Grocer's?' She didn't wait far a response. 'I heard that Petunia's got herself a lad. What's he like? Handsome? Maggie didn't say...' I paused before answering as I reached for a roll that was right at the front of the display cabinet.

'He makes Tuney happy,' The roll was proving difficult to get so I gave up and opted for one nearer to me 'and that's what matters I suppose...' I paused again to select the second roll. 'He's not who I expected Tuney would go for but I don't really know him very well. I've only met him twice. He's in his late twenties. I think.'

Eileen seemed to understand my meaning and nodded knowingly.

'Well, our Petunia's never been the sort to go after boys her own age. I remember she always went for the older blokes when she was at school. Worried your Mum like crazy when she hung out with them. That friend of hers - Claire? Was that her name? Well anyway, she was just the same. But she's old enough to make her own choices so if she's happy then we should be too. How long has Petunia been seeing him?'

'A year or so.'

'Bloody hell! She's kept that quiet. Not much use with secrecy now though, not is Maggie knows anyway. Her mum will know by now and if Mrs J knows, everyone else will too by the end of next Sunday. She loves a gossip after Church.' I laughed at that statement.

'I doubt Tuney will be pleased with that. She doesn't like Mrs J. In fact, seeing as the feeling is mutual between them, I wonder how Vernon's going to be described. I guess it depends on how vindictive Mrs J's feeling.'

'Doesn't look good for the poor sod then does it?'

'Don't know about poor. He's from London. His dad owns a drill company.' Eileen nodded her head approvingly.

'Dad's a CEO. Not bad. Petunia's done well for herself.'

'Not on the community's approval side but she dislikes us so I suppose that doesn't matter to her.'

'Lily never say that! You know that's not true. Petunia does care about you. About all of us she just doesn't know how to show it.' but I could tell that Eileen wasn't sure of what she was saying.

'You make sure your fellow's a nice one. I want to know that at least everyone approves of your choice.' She smiled at me. 'From what Sev's told me, you've got an admirer. Doesn't sound to fond of him but then again Sev's always been quite protective of you.'

'On the topic of Sev, how's he been? I haven't seen him all summer cause of work and that...'

'Oh, he's alright. He's staying at his friend Marcus Avery's house. Has been all summer. He doesn't say much in his letters but I know he's having fun. Hasn't he written to you?

'A few times but like you said,"he doesn't say much"' I finished wrapping up the bread in a newspaper. 'That'll be 38 pence then please.' Eileen handed me the appropriate coins and left the shop.

So Sev was at Avery's, I thought bitterly. I was slowly loosing Sev to the Dark Arts and I knew that is I didn't try harder to be his friend that I would loose him to them forever. I wondered if Eileen knew. Perhaps she did but if she did she was good at hiding it.

* * *

Diagon Alley was packed as I wandered through it in an attempt to reach the second-hand shop. People jostled me here and there so it was impossible to walk in a straight line. Eventually I reached my destination and gratefully pushed open the door to 'Trinity's Treasures' which was a large second-hand shop at the corner of Diagon Alley.

It was thankfully quiet inside that shop ad I greeted the plump witch behind the till before turning to browse the shelves. There was everything and anything on the well stocked shelves and I felt right at home here. There was nothing around me that was brand new but I didn't care because this shop had everything I needed. I picked up all the set books for my 5th year, a set of robes because my old ones had reached their expansion charm capacity and the same could be said for my winter cloak so I picked a black cloak with a fluffy inside. It had a few tears in it but it was nothing I couldn't fix. I staggered over to the till and asked the witch behind it if she could look after my chosen purchases while I continued to look around. She smilingly agreed and I went back to browsing.

There was a beautiful necklace at the back of the shop. An ornamental butterfly sat on the dusty cushion attached to a silver chain. I only owned one necklace and that necklace was a simple silver cross which was the symbol of my religion. I wore that necklace all the time (except the shower) and it comforted me to fiddle with it if I was bored or upset. I didn't need anymore jewellery and yet the butterfly necklace was stunning and I was close to forgetting myself and buying something I didn't need. I was simply examining it when I heard the shop bell tinkle as someone else entered the shop. I thought nothing of it until:

'Evans!' cried the delighted voice of James Potter. I swore under my breath. 'I saw you through the window and couldn't resist the opportunity to say hello.'

Resigned to my fate I turned around to face Potter and two adults I could only assume were his parents.

'Evans meet my mum and dad!'

'It's nice to meet you.' I greeted them politely and they smiled back. Mr Potter bore an uncanny resemblance to his son; they smirked the same way, had the same face and even stood alike. Although in looks Mrs Potter looked quite different from her son, she looked similar at the same time. This was due to the amused twinkle in her eye that was the same as Potter's when he found something funny but wasn't or couldn't laugh (for example, in a test and he thought something was funny). Wait. Did I just say Potter's eyes twinkle? Well, wasn't that an interesting revelation?

'So Evans, what brings you to this second-hand shop?' I was a little taken aback by his question. I never told anyone about my financial situation because I didn't want sympathy. I was happy with a family that I loved and I didn't need anything else. Not really anyway.

'You can find the most interesting artifacts in a second-hand shop Potter. Look at this necklace for example.' I held up the butterfly necklace. 'To you the cost may make it worthless but to me its beauty makes it a treasure. It holds nothing in material value but at the same time it does which is what makes so interesting.'

Potter simply stood in front of me speechless after I had politely told him that he was being a snob. His parents both beamed at me and Mr Potter even winked.

'Come along James, I think you've taken up quite enough of Miss Evans' time.' They began to pull Potter out of the shop. 'Well, it was nice to finally meet you in person. I'm sure we'll meet again' and with that the three Potter's left. I put the necklace back on the shelf, sighed and went up to the till to pay.

Ten minutes later and I was back on Diagon Alley. A chilly sort of mist seemed to hang in the air and as I headed for the Apothecary I noticed how much emptier the street was. I topped up my potions supplies and headed to Flourish and Blott's to see if there were any useful books on sale. Trinity's Treasure's I had found out in my first visit didn't have any books passed second-hand copies of Hogwarts textbooks meaning that for non-curriculum boks I had to buy them brand new.

I entered Flourish and Blott's and my eyes immediately fell on two boys. One with black hair and one with sandy brown hair. I crept up behind them

'Sirius I refuse to buy that! That book is a disgrace to books.' Remus was saying in an annoyed voice as he looked at the book Sirius was trying to shove into his hands. The book was titled 'How to Make the Ladies Swoon'.

'But Moooooney,' Sirius whined, 'we have to get you laid this year. James and I promised ourselves that we would and how can we do that is you refuse to put in any effort.' Remus groaned.

'Sirius I can tell you now that nothing in that book will help in the slightest.' I said loudly causing both boys to jump.

'Lily!' they said in unison and hugged me. Eventually, they let go and we returned to the matter in hand.

'As I was saying, that book is useless. Those tricks work on the slags of Hogwarts but if Remus wants to nab himself a girlfriend or even a one-night-stand who hasn't shagged half the school then he's better off being the way he is. You know the girls of Hogwarts already love that he's a gentleman. If he sticks at that he can probably get whoever he wants.'

'See Padfoot!' Remus said in a very childlike manner and stuck out his tongue. I rolled my eyes and Sirius scowled slightly.

'Lily, Lily, Lily, Li-'

'Stop saying my name.'

'Lily, I think we can safely say that I am an expert in seducing girls and the tricks in this book,' Sirius jabbed his finger on the offending book's front cover. 'WORK!'

'Okay Sirius. If you say so.' answered an amused Remus.

'Remind me Sirius not to come to you for advice.'

'Hey!' he cried indignantly and hit me with the stupid book we were debating. 'If Mooney doesn't get laid this year he'll die a virgin and James and I refuse to let that happen.'

'Well it's nice to know you have faith in Remus surviving longer than a year.' I said pleasantly and Remus laughed.

'By the way, did you get prefect Lily?' Remus asked. 'I did'

'Twinsies!' I squealed in delight and hugged Remus. Sirius groaned from next to me.

'Oh Merlin, what am I going to do this year? How will I possibly stay out of trouble with you two on my case? My knees are shaking with terror. Oh the end of my trouble making days is in sight. Help me! Please have mercy!' he cried dramatically.

'Oh, shut up Sirius!' Remus said in an exasperated voice while I swatted Sirius on the head with my hand.

The three of us walked companionably around the shop before we met Potter and I mysteriously became in a sudden rush to get home. I sat thinking on the Knight Bus as I travelled home about being a prefect and about 5th year in general. When I reached home I said goodnight to my dad who was baking bread for the next day, read a bit of Pride and Prejudice to my mum and headed off to bed. Sleep practically crashed into me and I lost consciousness in a matter of minutes.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **The next chapters are going to be shorter, probably. This one was just Lily's summer holidays. Next chapter will probably be the train journey to Hogwarts and (maybe) a complete first day back. I'm aiming for one chapter a week but sometimes I'll upload another bit more often than that. It depends on how much I wrote in or disliked the previous chapter and if I suddenly had a wave of inspiration.**

 **Please Review :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **A/N: I hope you liked the last chapter. This one is on the train to Hogwarts, the feast and then the first full day – I think. Plans may change as I write. I've realised recently that I keep calling where Lily lives Cokesworth when it's actually Cokeworth but I'll stick to the wrong spelling to be consistent.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise (that goes for all chapters but I forgot to write that on the past few)**

 **Enjoy :)**

Marlene surveyed me with her honey coloured eyes and her shrewd expression. Her eyes passed over the prefect's badge pinned to my forest green knitted sweater and fell on the bag I wore on my shoulder. The shoulder bag I wore was my new school bag. It had leather straps and was made of a material patterned with little elephants and lotus flowers. The elephants looked a bit like my patronus (it was a baby elephant which I had named Arnold) and I had charmed them so that they walked around the bag when they felt like it. The bag was second-hand but Marlene was suspicious because I never bought new things if I could help it. My friends attributed it to a loathing for shopping which I was only too happy to play along with. I tugged my plait.

'New bag?' she asked and I nodded in response.

'Dad treated me for getting prefect.'

'Mmmmh,' she replied but still eyed me suspiciously.

'Well, I think its lovely.' piped up Alice from the seat by the window and Mary grinned from beside her.

'Listen guys, I need to go to the prefect carriage. Can I leave it here?' They all murmured in assent and I left the compartment. The corridors were busy meaning I had to squeeze passed and it was a relief to reach my destination. Remus, who was already sitting inside, indicated to the seat next to him which I took gratefully.

'Know any of the other 5th year prefects yet?' I whispered to him.

'Ben Fortescue is Slytherin along with Annabel Palmer. Hufflepuff's are Tom Clarke and Freya McMillan. And I think the Ravenclaws are Michael Boot and Miriam Reid.'

'How do you know this already? We're the only 5th years here so far.' Honestly, how Remus always knew so much about other people baffled me. His response to my question was only to tap is nose and smirk. I raised an eyebrow and watched the compartment door. Sure enough, all the people Remus had said entered the compartment. I shook my head in defeat and he chuckled until the head boy and girl began speaking.

* * *

Remus and I were patrolling the train. We had passed the Marauder's compartment ten minutes prior and I was relieved that I had had to conveniently retie my dark green fake converse's laces. I successfully avoided being spoken to by Potter because of how preoccupied I had been.

'So how was your summer?' I asked into the companionable silence.

'Not too bad. Turkey was really cool. We visited Istanbul for a week and then stayed in a resort somewhere in the countryside for the rest of it. Then of course Mum thought I was lonely and invited the herd to join me. She didn't tell me so when I wrote that letter I was pretty pissed off. Peter's not so bad and neither's James when it's just him but put him with Sirius and your doomed. My holiday was quite peaceful until the three of them turned up. Still, it made the full moon more bearable.'

I nodded at his last sentence. Remus was a werewolf meaning he transformed once a month. The rest of the Marauders snuck out to join him every full moon. I had no idea how they did it without getting bitten but knew better than to ask. They would return to the common room around 3 or 4 in the morning and I would be there waiting for them, armed with my wand and some healing potions. I would heal up Sirius, Peter and Potter without asking questions. All four of us would be silent throughout the process apart from the occasional instruction to lift an arm or something similar. Potter didn't ask me out whilst I healed them and it was the only time I didn't hate to be in his presence. I covered for them and was always ready with a potion to keep them awake during class. Whatever they did to keep Remus company, I knew he was grateful.

'I stayed at home all summer. 6 weeks of nothing eventful.' I smiled evilly. 'By the way...did you get the book Sirius recommended?'

Remus blanched.

'No! I don't know what he's told you but I listened to you and common sense! That book stayed in Flourish & Blott's.' he cried indignantly.

'Good, good. Sirius' advice is always taken with caution.' We both laughed at that.

* * *

Hogwarts tucked into another delicious feast. Mary had abandoned us to sit with her 6th year boyfriend Andrew Wood. She had apologised profusely for ditching us and still seemed to feel guilty despite our insistence that we didn't mind. Without Mary however, the usual debate on Daniel Stromdale didn't happen. Talk was therefore struck up about who had become good looking over the holidays.

'Doesn't Frank look good?'

'Alice wouldn't you say that his cheekbones could be used as a knife?

'How about for slicing though your heart Alice?' I quipped and Marlene spluttered with laughter as Alice turned beet red.

'Shut up Lily!' I raised my hands in mock surrender. 'By the way, we didn't go on a date. All his family was there. It was fun but not a date.'

'He didn't!' Marlene practically shouted. 'That little shit! You don't just invite a girl out and then turn up with your whole family! He's got some bloody nerve to do that to you! What an arsehole!' Her tirade of Frank Longbottom continued for a good five minutes but Alice seemed grateful for the insults. It had obviously hurt her even if she tried to hide it. We needed some kind of plan.

'You know what we need? A plan. And I may just have one.' I said, causing Marlene to stop mid rant and look at me. Alice turned her blue eyes on me in interest. 'Alice needs to show Frank exactly what he's missing. Hanging out with him a bit, showing off your great sense of humour and maybe even flaunting your incredible figure at him. Not a personality change but he needs to see who we see. To him you're kind of shy and to us your loud and uncaring of what others think of you. We need that side of you shown to him and by the time it's the first Hogsmeade trip, he won't be able to keep you off his mind!'

Marlene grinned at me and Alice nodded slowly.

'Oh, Frank Longbottom. He let down the wrong girl. Him against us 4. He'll soon be wishing he'd made that day out a date.' Marlene said smugly and Alice looked like she appreciated our input.

'Mary will help with fashion/style, I'll help with how you act and Lily will teach you how to dance.'

'Dance?'

'Yeah, of course! How else are you gonna bust some moves on the dancefloor of the common room parties? What about the Halloween Ball Dumbledore promised?'

'I guess you're right.'

'Hang on!' Marlene and Alice looked at me, confused. 'Why am teaching Alice how to dance?'

'Because you're a brilliant dancer! Duh!'

'How would you know? I've never danced in front anyone.'

'I've walked into the dorm and seen you on several occasions with your eyes shut and dancing. You've danced salsa, waltz, club dance and probably more judging by how well you danced them.'

'WHAT! You saw that?' I blushed deeply. My ability to dance had always been a secret. I had taught myself in the Room of Requirement to help with dueling. I practiced dueling and to help keep a pace whilst dueling I learnt how to dance several styles of dance. Dueling could look like a complicated dance at times and it made it easier for me if I imagined it as one. I learnt different types of dancing so that I could have an easy flow of movement in any pace duel. I found that when I practiced dueling against the dueling dummy in the room, I was able to imagine a tune in my head and duel to the beat. I would often practice in the dormitory when I was sure no-one was around but apparently I had been spotted on numerous occasions.

'Fine. But only for Alice.'

'Perfect! We need to tell Mary and then Operation Longitt is a go.'

'Operation Longitt?'

'Yes, it's a mix of Longbottom and Prewitt. It's their ship name.'

'I'm sorry if this plan is for my benefit but if it gets that shit a name, I'm out.'

'Urgh!' I growled in frustration. 'It doesn't need a name!'

'Yes it does!' Marlene replied indignantly. 'Fine, we'll call it Operation GAWF.'

'GAWF sounds like a species of dwarf.'

'Well, you come up with a better name than Get Alice With Frank.'

'Will you both STOP!' I cried exasperatedly. 'Marlene, GAWF sounds great and Alice, you don't have to refer to the plan as that if you don't want to. Everyone happy?'

I was met with two grumbles of agreement. Professor Dumbledore dismissed us after his speech and Remus joined me to shepherd the first years up to Gryffindor tower. I collapsed on to my bed while Marlene filled Mary in on Operation GAWF. The bickering's of my three girlfriends lulled me into an affectionate sleep.

* * *

The alarm on my bedside table went off at 6am and I pushed back my covers in a cheerful mood. I was most definitely an morning person and delighted in waking up earlier that almost anyone else. Six in the morning wasn't too early but it still meant that by 6.30, when went to breakfast, there weren't too many people around. I checked the ceiling of the Great Hall as I entered and saw immediately that the sky did not reflect my mood. It was grey and moody with rain breaking through the mass of clouds that covered the sky.

I sat eating my cereal and spotted Sev sitting on the Slytherin table with some of his 'friends'. They had they're heads together except Sev who was stabbing his breakfast moodily. As he looked up I caught his eye and smiled at him. He returned it but only when he had made sure his mates weren't paying attention. My smile faded at that and I returned to my breakfast. A few second later, the timetables appeared. I had double potions first which automatically equalled a great day. Potions and Charms were my favourite subjects. I wasn't bad at any subjects, all my grades were and E or O, but I often struggled with transfiguration. Luckily, Sirius and Remus helped me if I was in trouble with a spell.

Once I finished my breakfast, I headed back to the dormitory to attempt to wake the sleeping dragons.

'Rise and shine!' I announced to the room brightly as I ducked the three cushions thrown at me.

'Oh, fuck off Lily!' came Marlene's muffled voice.

'Here, here!' Mary added. Alice echoed this with a grunt. Honestly, I thought, people who made the teen movies where the girls would wake up all beautiful and flawless clearly hadn't seen my roommates in the morning.

Grumbling was a constant sound emitted from my mates in the morning and as Alice slouched into the bathroom she hit me on the head with her pillow. This was normal morning behaviour so I let her go without returning the gesture. The grumbling girls followed me downstairs an hour later and we made our way to the Great Hall for what I called 'second breakfast'. This involved me simply drinking water while everyone else ate. I didn't eat during 'second breakfast' which led many to believe I didn't eat breakfast. That misconception had led to one hilarious week in second year where my mates took it upon themselves to tempt me with food.

* * *

The four of us made our way to the dungeons for our first lesson of the day. Professor Slughorn greeted us enthusiastically and beckoned us into the classroom.

'Miss Evans and Mister Snape, you will be partners at the front. Mister Black and Mister Potter on the same table.' I groaned inwardly. 'Miss Prewitt and Miss Palmer on that table over there. Miss MacDonald and Miss Young **[A/N:Marlene]**...'

Professor Slughorn was a good teacher. His students did well and he enjoyed teaching (as far as I could tell). However, he also had favourites and his favourites would be obvious. He invited his 5th year and above favourites to something called the Slug Club. As I made my way to my table I saw one of his infamous scrolls with a purple velvet ribbon around it. Sev had one too I noticed.

'Hey Sev!' I said cheerfully and he smiled at me in response. I was about to say something else when Slughorn began talking.

'This is your OWL year. I expect each and every one of you to put in 110% effort even if you aren't pursuing this for NEWTs. In today's lesson we will be brewing a Draught of Peace.'

'I'll make sure to slip Evans some for her hair!' Potter staged whispered to Sirius and I scowled at a dent on the table.

'You will work in your pairs and complete this potion by turning to page 26. You have an 1 hour and 45 minutes. You may... Begin!'

Sev and I eagerly opened our books and then did rock, paper scissors about who would go get the ingredients. I won so Sev went to get them while I set up the cauldron. We worked companionably and often made corrections in our textbooks about how to brew the potion. We chatted occasionally but mainly worked in silence. I had lees and less to say to Sev these days. He seemed different making me wonder if I even knew him sometimes but in potions he was back to the old Sev so I made the most of it.

'Lily, you know we're supposed to stir the potion clockwise...' I grinned at Sev, knowing exactly what was he was getting at. 'But that makes the aftertaste bitter so perhaps we should-'

'Add an anticlockwise stir every 5 clockwise stirs!' we finished together. I laughed at the fact we finished the sentence at the same time and Sev CHUCKLED along with me.

'Careful Lils! People might think you're a couple with behaviour like that.' Sirius said somberly and I hit him on the head with my textbook. 'Hey!'

'Are you serious- I mean kidding!'

'I am indeed Sirius an-' he was cut of by a jet of water that came out of my wand. Potter roared with laughter so I immediately stopped. Sirius was spluttering and Sev was smirking at the two boys on the opposite side of the desk.

'That was brilliant Evans! You clearly know how to use a wand so maybe we could-' He was saved from me firing every hex I knew at him after his innuendo because Slughorn chose that second to come and inspect our potions.

'A perfect potion. Well done Miss Evans and Mister Snape. 20 points to each of your houses.' he beamed at us, tutted at Potter and Sirius' potion and dismissed the class.

* * *

Lunch eventually arrived and I sat down at the Gryffindor table in between Remus and Alice. The Marauders sat two on each side of the table on one side of me and me and my girls had the same formation. I ate my lunch quietly, preferring to listen to the conversations rather than join in.

'Alice I was thinking we should do leave your hair down instead of up in that ponytail...'

'Wormy you cannot get the ladies with that hairstyle. Pads will sort it out...'

'Slughorn told me to tie my hair back incase one of my hairs fell out into the potion.'

'Prong is right but I'm not playing makeovers over here.'

'What does he think happens to your hair. It's not like you used hair removal cream instead of shampoo...'

'But Padfoot, my hair looks awful and no-one thinks it looks good. Couldn't you help just a teeny bit?'

Remus too was simply eating but he seemed in a rush to leave. He was most likely planning to go to the library so I refrained from asking.

'Remus are you planning on making yourself sick?' Marlene asked as she watched him gulp down his food. He shook his head but continued eating at the same pace.

'Remus is really _wolfing_ down his food.' Sirius observed in a casual manner. I snorted with laughter and ducked down underneath the table to 'retrieve' something from my bag while I got a grip over my laughter. Above me I could hear the Marauders, even Remus, laughing their heads off.

A few moments later I resurfaced and found my girlfriends giving the Marauders a very confused and suspicious look. Apparently my snort had gone unnoticed. There was a rather pregnant pause once the Marauders stopped laughing.

'Alice! Weren't we leaving your hair down?' And that Ladies and Gentlemen, I thought, is how to change the subject. Mary and Marlene had both attacked Alice with hair accessories and were busy with styling it meaning they didn't see Sirius' grateful wink which I returned.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I have serious writer's block at the moment but hopefully it will get better. The next chapter posted might be posted today as well. It's going to be quite short probably but I wanted to focus on something. No spoilers but it is something that happens on the Marauder's timeline in most stories. I wanted to do it in 5th year unlike most people who make it happen in 6th or 7th year.**

 **Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **A/N: This chapter is going to be shorter and hopefully you like it. It's going to be a bit of Sirius and Lily bonding but I'm not saying why. All will be revealed.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

It was a full moon and I sat in the common room waiting for Sirius, Peter and Potter to return. I had come down at 3am which was when the Moon usually went back behind the clouds but it was now 4 am and they hadn't come back. I looked into the dying embers of the fire wondering if they were alright. True, they would always come back looking slightly worse for wear but it was never anything that prevented them from returning. The portrait hole opened and Peter and Potter came in.

'Where's Sirius?' I asked at once.

'Getting what he deserved.' Potter said coldly as I began to heal a gash on his arm. I was taken aback by the icy way he spoke about Sirius but knew better than to ask. The two boys headed up to bed once I was finished with healing them but I stayed where I was and waited for Sirius' return.

* * *

It was 5am when he stumbled into the common room. His eyes were glistening with tears and although he appeared unharmed I knew that whatever was wrong was severe.

'Sit.' I commanded pointing at a cushion that was on the floor in front of where I sat on the sofa. He did as he was told. 'Are you injured?' I asked softly and he shook his head. 'Then what is it?'

'I fucked up. I fucked everything up.'

I transfigured a piece of parchment into a hairbrush and began to brush Sirius' hair. Doing Sirius' hair had originally started as something I did when we were both bored but now it was something we did when we discussed our problems. We had sat in this very position many times and here Sirius would talk about his family issues, fears, regrets, worries and things which made him uncomfortable while I brushed and braided his hair.

'So what did you do?' I asked. He didn't answer for a second before everything seemed to flow out of him in a great wave of remorse.

'Reg spoke to me today.' I nodded. Regulus was Sirius' brother and conversations with him always brought out the worst in Sirius.

'He told me how Mum wanted us to become Death Eaters and how if I didn't do as she said I would be disowned and chucked into the street. I stormed off and that's when I bumped into Snivellus. He started telling me how I was weak and stupid and, well, I just flipped. My messed up brain thought, you know what, tell him how to find out where Mooney goes every month. That'll show the little shit. Oh what a fucking idiot I am. I realised my mistake and ran to tell James. Snivellus was saved by James – luckily. He hasn't spoken to me since and I deserve that. Peter and Remus hate me too. Dumbledore only gave me detentions until Christmas. That's it! I deserve to be punished and he hasn't even banned me from Quidditch!

I deserve to be expelled. Remus could have gone to Azkaban for murdering Snivellus! And I get detentions until Christmas. THAT'S IT? Remus could have been labelled as a murder! A murderer! A FUCKING murderer! I put him that position Lily. He was fine until my brain decided to mess his life up. I'm a selfish prick Lily.' He paused.

'You can go, you know. It's probably better if you don't hang around with me. After what I've done don't forgive me.'

I continued to braid Sirius' hair in silence as he came to the end of his of his speech. I could tell he regretted every second of the past few hours.

'You haven't left yet. Why?' he asked slightly shakily, turning to face me.

'Keep facing the fire! I haven't finished braiding yet.' I said sternly. He faced the fire once more.

'You're still here.'

'Well, what do you want me to do? Scream at you for what you did? Tell you you're a waste of space? Go all disappointed on you? Lecture you on the consequences of not thinking?'

'That's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to be livid and hate me forever. That's what I deserve and that's what you need to do.'

'I forgive you Sirius. I will always forgive you. Always. You're like my big brother and you are part of my family as far as I'm concerned. You shouldn't have done what you did. Remus almost was sent to Azkaban because of it but it won't help anyone to ignore you. You're sorry which is what matters. People throw that word around a lot and expect it to do something but it doesn't unless you mean it. Sirius, I've heard you here telling me how much you regretted what you did and I don't think anyone could say you didn't mean it. I believe you're apology and one day Potter, Peter and Remus will believe it too. We all make mistakes and some are reasonably larger than others but we can't hate people for everything they do wrong. I've forgiven Sev countless times for the stuff he done and the same with you when you bully people. But it's who you are inside that makes me forgive you.'

'But I'm a danger and-'

'Sirius Orion Black, might I remind you that you are afraid of spiders. I don't think you could ever be a danger to me when I remember last year. Remember there was a spider siting on one of the cushions next to you and remember how loudly you screamed and demanded I get rid of it. Forgive me if I'm not quaking in your presence.'

'Yes but-'

'No buts. I am a very firm believer in giving people another chance. You are one of my best mates and I'm not shutting you out. I'll stop Potter from beating you up as much as possible and you can hang around with me if you want. The others need time. Eventually they'll forgive you too.'

'I don't think they will.'

'I beg to differ. You and the rest of the Marauders have an amazing relationship. You all bring out the best in each other. You stand together with everything and I think it's fair to say that most people can only dream of your friendship. It will take them time but true friends have a way of getting back together again.'

'If you say so.' I finished his braid and the clock on the mantelpiece.

'And after that soppy one-to-one, I'm going to get dressed cause it's ten to six.'

* * *

The hubbub of the Great Hall was like the engine of a car as I entered for 'second breakfast'. I had doubled back to the dormitory to get my painkiller for my cramps which Madame Pomfrey given me. I was once again riding the crimson wave and had almost forgotten the potion which could have resulted in me passing out from my cramp for the third time (my cramps needed this potion to be bearable - along with a heating pad).

My girlfriends sat around the middle of the table with Frank Longbottom, Kieran McKinnon and Ben Fortescue. Although Ben was a Slytherin he ate with the Gryffindors unless it was a important feast. Further down the table sat Potter and Peter. They were sending dark looks at a scowling dark haired figure sitting at the end of the table nearest to me - Sirius. I glared at Potter, waved at the girls and then sat defiantly opposite Sirius.

'You don't have sit with me.' he said but his lips twitched at the corners.

'I want to.' I answered simply.

'No, go sit with Prewitt, MacDonald and Young.'

'Nope.' I sighed. 'You're not sitting alone besides Marlene and Alice are too engaged with their crushes and Mary is in her daydreaming about Andrew mode.'

'Prewitt likes Longbottom? That's interesting...'

'So we're agreed. You can hang out with me and you are NOT a burden.'

'Fine. I'm not a burden. Happy?' he grumbled. I grinned in response and sipped my water. 'Could you possibly eat any more food?'

'Haha. You're sooooo funny. I can hardly breath for laughing.'

'You love me really,' he said as his lips split into the smallest of smiles.

'That I do my dear Sirius and that means you're stuck with me for life.'

'Damn! I was hoping to escape.'

'Ah!' I grabbed his wrist and began to imitate the Divination teacher Professor Conan. 'You will not be so lucky. I see it, plain as day in the palm, your hand. This!'

I jabbed my finger at one of the lines on his hand. 'Shows that a Miss Evans will be ever present in your life. She will loom over you in all that you do. Her disturbed spirit will stalk through the shadows of the world, forever scolding you.'

I rolled my eyes up and semi-closed my eyelids.

'Beware! Beware! Miss Evans will remain with you forever. You must accept her or face the gravest of consequences.'

Sirius snorted. I continued with my 'reading'.

'You may laugh but it is all written right here. Miss Evans is really a banshee in disguise when she's refused. Her wailing will be the death of you along with her tickling you.' At that Sirius yanked his arm back and wagged is finger at me.

'You wouldn't dare! Lily don't even think about it! I happen to know where you're ticklish too.'

'No fair!'

'I think that's perfectly fair.'

'Isn't!' I stuck out my tongue childishly.

'Is!' Sirius returned the gesture.

'Isn't!'

'Is!'

'Isn't!'

'Is!'

'Isn't!'

'Guys, I hate to break up this fascinating argument but we've got 5 mins till Charms so we'd better go.' Mary interrupted. Sirius' face returned to a scowl and hung his head. We reached the Charms classroom with a minute to spare and headed inside.

'Sirius you can sit with me if you want. I believe Alice is sitting with Frank.'

'Sure.' came the reply. Potter had just entered and he was looking at Sirius with a cold gaze. He looked disgusted at Sirius sitting by me.

'Got a problem Potter?' I asked.

'Yeah, I do actually.'

'Your ego?' Marlene stifled a laugh as Professor Flitwick entered the classroom. Potter was forced to swallow whatever pathetic comeback he had been about to say as Flitwick began the register. I settled into my favourite lesson of the day and tried to ignore Potter glaring at the back Sirius' head.

* * *

Dinner arrived and me, Sirius, Frank, Kieran, Ben and the girls sat together eating contently. Sirius' mood had swung from cheerful to depressed throughout the entire day. He would laugh at something funny and then sink back into his remorseful face.

I was tucking into a bowl of soup when someone tapped on the shoulder. I turned and extracted my self from Marlene's rather hilarious retelling of the time she accidently set all the salamanders free in Care of Magical Creatures.

It was Potter.

'Did you want something Potter? Other than a brain of course.'

'Evans you wound me.' He mimed clutching his heart in pain. 'Actually, I wanted a word.' I looked at him expectantly. 'In private?'

I glanced at my friends uncertainly.

'Go on babes.' Mary said as she prodded me in the back. 'He's too thick to do any damage.' She looked scornfully at Potter.

'Thanks MacDonald' She smiled sweetly at Potter and feigned innocence.

'Fine Potter. Lead the way...' I followed him out of the Great Hall and into an unused classroom. Sitting myself on one of the desks, I watched him move in front of me.

'Firstly, I would simply like to say you look absolutely ravishing as always. So do you want to go-'

'Is this what you wanted? I'm leaving!' I got up from the desk.

'Evans wait!' I lowered myself back on to the table. 'I need to warn you. Stay away from Black. He's a danger to you. Same goes for Snivellus of course.'

I crossed my arms and glowered at him.

'I'm serious! I doubt he told you everything but stay away from Black. He may have told you he's innocent but trust me he's just a backstabbing piece of shit.' His eyes darkened.

'Are you quite finished?'

'List-'

'No Potter! You listen to me. Sirius is one of my best mates and I don't care what he does but I'll forgive him every single time. You may have told yourself that he's pleading innocent but I know better. You should know that he regrets what he's done. You should also know that Sirius told me everything at 5am this morning. I'm not saying it was right what he did cause it wasn't but he's not going to be alone for what he's done.

Who influences Sirius, Potter? You and the rest of his mates do. When he's confronted, who stops him from doing anything rash? You and the rest of his mates do. Who talks him out of doing something impulsive and stupid? You and the rest of his mates do. And when he's alone? No one. Guess what? When he told Sev, he was away from his mates. Sirius needs his friends and he does stupid things when they're not around. He needs you. He needs Remus. He needs Peter. He needs his friends.

You don't have to forgive him straight away but you have to forgive him in the end. In the meantime, don't try turn others against him. If you want him to do more things like this Potter, by all means, try and isolate him. But I'll warn you now, I won't let you do that.

Give Remus space to make up his own mind and lay off Sirius. If I find out you've beaten him up Potter, I'll make sure you'll regret it.'

Potter stared at me with something flickering in his eyes which I couldn't read.

'Oh and about Sev being an danger to me, I'll answer with this. You know nothing about me Potter so keep your nose out of my business if you know what's good for you. Sev is one of my mates so leave him alone. Lay off him and he'll lay off you. Now if you don't mind, I'm going back to dinner.' And with that, I left Potter to gawp at the wall opposite him.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **What did you think? I'm not sure about some of it but I like it overall. I didn't specify when this happened but its a few weeks into the school year. Halloween's up next and don't worry the Marauders won't make up too quickly. I always imagined that Lily would have been the first to forgive Sirius and straight away. Most people make her hot-headed but I always imagine she only ever got cross at James and hardly ever shouted at anyone. When she does shout it will have a bigger impact because she'll hardly ever do it. I think most people would never have heard her shout. To me Lily was the peace-keeper in situations and was the first person to welcome back someone who had wronged.**

 **Btw Lily wasn't shouting at James in this.**

 **Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **A/N: It's almost Halloween! This chapter is set a bit before Halloween and then the Halloween celebrations.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The first Hogsmeade trip of the year was looming closer and closer. That also meant Halloween was just around the corner. Operation GAWF had been in the background since the whole Sirius thing but with a week before the Hogsmeade trip we needed to amp it up so that Frank would ask Alice. My alarm clock read 7am which meant it was time to wake up the dragons or in other words, my roommates so that we could get Alice ready.

'Alright! Up the lot of you!' I said into the room and was met with grunts and grumbles from behind the three sets of curtains around three four-poster beds. Mary was the first to appear and she stumbled bleary eyed into the bathroom. Marlene pulled open her curtains and sat up glaring at me.

'Screw you and you being a morning person. Frank better ask Alice at the end of this. My beauty sleep isn't meant to be broken.'

'Oh shut up!' came Alice's voice from the other side of the dormitory. She yawned widely as Mary re-entered the room.

'Babes, you next.' Mary dragged Alice into the bathroom. 20 minutes later they appeared and Marlene practically sprinted into the bathroom.

'Lily, what do you think?' Alice twirled around. Her hair was curled into little neat waves and was half up half down. Her makeup was neutral but her blue eyes looked more intense due to the colour of the eyeshadow Mary had used on her.

'Wicked! We just need to practice you're dancing a bit more for the Halloween Masked Ball but you look stunning!' Alice and Mary both beamed. Mary looked, in my opinion, like a painter who'd just released their latest work to the public. The Masked ball had been announced two days prior and meant that Mary and Marlene would be forcing me to go dress shopping.

As a female, people assumed I loved shopping but I reckoned even with unlimited money I would still hate it. I wasn't one for squealing at a dress or getting all teary-eyed when one of my friend stepped out of the changing room wearing a jumper that looked exactly like all the others they had tried on but this one was apparently 'the one'. I was quite content to wait for my friends as they tried on clothes however, if and only if I had a good book on hand. But trying on clothes myself was a nightmare and was best avoided.

* * *

As we sat down for 'second breakfast' Frank seemed to do a double take as we walked past. It was a good sign. I was pretty sure he liked Alice and I had asked Remus to check my suspicions which he confirmed straight away. Apparently, Frank spoke about Alice for a while most nights with Potter because being lovesick was something they had in common. Remus didn't tell me who Potter was lovesick for but I doubted it was me. His asking me out every hour of the day was I'm pretty sure just a way of trying to humiliate me and tell me that no guy would ever be attracted to me. It was Potter's way of making me feel bad about myself. I wasn't one of those girls that craved guys' attention but it still hurt for some reason.

Alice seemed to be turning into a tomato as we sat down. Sirius said as much.

'Prewitt, don't tomatoes belong in the greenhouses?'

She smiled weakly as I swatted Sirius on the head. Marlene and Mary began going through all the things Alice needed to remember when in the vicinity of Frank and I turned to Sirius for company.

'Sleep well?' I asked.

'Wow. What an interesting conversation Lily.'

'Haha. Well, what do you want to talk about?' He shrugged nonchalantly and I immediately knew that there was something he wanted to discuss. Sirius being the drama-queen that he was would however never tell me and I always had to guess. That way he would get to act frustrated and get attention from others around us. I followed his line of sight and saw he was watching Sev through narrowed eyes.

'Is it Sev?'

'You got it first try! I'm impressed. Usually we're here for at least ten minutes.'

'Well? Is there a reason your staring at him like he's the plague?'

'He's being suspicious.'

'Yes, he looks incredibly suspicious sitting there eating toast. In fact... he's got jam on his toast and it's red - like blood - which obviously means he's going to kill someone.'

'I'm serious!'

'I know you're Sirius. I've known you since first year.'

He shoved me playfully, causing me to laugh.

'Snivellus is up to something.'

'Oh sure'

'He was talking to Avery-'

'That's because they're mates. Honestly! That's like someone saying you're doing something bad cause you're talking to me.'

'No! This was different. They were talking about some kind of mission.'

'Anything else? Or was it just a mission. That could literally be anything.'

'No.' he said sadly shaking his head.

'And now you're suspicious?'

'Yes.'

'Okay? And you're going to what exactly?'

'Well, I was going to spy on him and see what he's up to. James and I did this kind of thing a lot but-'

'You're not speaking so you want me to join you?'

'Precisely.'

'I'm not spying on my mate!' I cried indignantly.

'Oh please Lily! I can't do it without you. This way, if it's nothing, I promise you can do an I-told-you-so dance and everything.'

I thought about it. If Sev was up to nothing, Sirius would find that out and get off his case. But if he wasn't? Sev and I were no longer as close as we used to be before Hogwarts. I felt like I hardly knew him these days. And what if he found out? How would he trust me again if he knew I had spied on him?

I tugged my plait and began to answer Sirius.

* * *

Frank had indeed asked Alice to Hogsmeade so I trouped into the village with Marlene, Mary, Sirius and an extremely reluctant Remus. Potter and Peter had detention and I had insisted Remus join us so that he wouldn't be lonely. Besides, I wasn't going to suffer shopping alone.

The five of us stopped first at Honeydukes for a top up of sweets and chocolate. I bought some fudge for my dad as his birthday was on the 1st of November. We headed to Zonkos, then went to Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, ate a quick lunch at the Three Broomsticks and finally entered Glad Rags Wizard's Wear.

The shop was a buzz with Hogwarts students looking for things for the Masked Ball. A huge supply of dress robes had arrived in the shop specially for the Hogwarts students. There were intricate masks too and all of the dress robes and masks were unique in design much to the delight of the female population. I hung back with Remus by some velvet poofs in a corner of the shop.

'Thanks for coming today. I know it's awkward with Sirius around but he loves shopping too and I didn't want to be alone in my dislike for it.'

He grinned at me.

'Hey it's okay. I needed to get a mask for this stupid ball anyway.' I chuckled.

'I'm going to transfigure some dress I already own and I'm sure the second-hand shop has some decent masks.'

'That's not a bad idea. I might join you instead of getting one from here.'

'Oi, Marls!' I called into the hubbub.

'What?' came the response from behind a rack of dress robes.

'Remus and I are getting our stuff somewhere else. We'll be back in 30 mins.' She waved her hand in response and Remus followed me out of the shop.

The shop bell tinkled as we entered and my eyes immediately fell on some masks that sat on some faded cushions. The two of us headed over. Remus chose a simple plain black mask and I chose a beautiful silver one. It was made of individual vines of metal that curved and swirled into a mask shape. An ornate pattern was engraved into the silver metal and deep midnight blue gems were encrusted along the top edge.

It was only 10 sickles.

'That's a good choice, dearie.' The woman behind the counter said smiling. I paid for the mask and once Remus had paid we returned to Glad Rags where the others were still looking.

'Lily! What do you think?' Marlene demanded as she waltzed towards us holding a vibrantly red dress. It was a simple V-neck that then expanded outwards just above the hips. It's top half was made of a slightly silky material and the bottom resembled a fuller tutu fabric. The tips of the dress were black and it gradually faded up the dress into the sea of scarlet. I nodded at her. 'Mary's found something too but she said she won't show. From the tiny glimpse I caught, it's baby pink.'

* * *

I sat on my bed looking at a limp midnight blue dress that lay in front of me. It was my mum's old dress and I was planning to wear it to the Christmas Ball after some alterations. However, the Masked Ball had arisen so I would have to change it magically for two different occasions,

'Right,' I said to myself, 'lets fix this dress!'

I started on the repairs first. There was a tear in the bodice which I quickly sorted out. I began conjuring silver thread and a needle. The sewing was much faster due to magic and within half an hour the bodice had been decorated.

The dress was in a mermaid style and had a strapless bodice decorated with sliver embroidery. I was pretty chuffed with how it had turned out.

* * *

The girls and I made our way into the Great Hall. It was bedecked with Halloween decorations. Carved pumpkins lined one of the far walls and their light sparkled on the dance floor. The dance floor was already being used by lots of happy couples and was situated in the centre of the Hall. Around the dance floor were large round tables with about 12 seats round them. The tables were each covered in a glittering black tablecloth. In the middle of the tables there were silver pumpkins that were seemingly encrusted with gems. The usual floating candles cast an eerie light over all the students and made it even harder to tell who was who that it would have been with just the masks.

Despite this, Alice spotted Frank and immediately made a beeline for him. Mary and Marlene followed whilst commenting on everyone else's dates and outfits. I trudged behind thinking of all the things I could be doing instead of attending the Ball. My hair was magically dyed dark brown so that I would be less conspicuous and I could talk to Sev without his mates taking much notice. The girls had looked disgusted when I explained my reasoning although they had quite liked my hair being dark brown. They had however also said that they preferred my usual deep red hair but still thought the brunette me looked nice. I was hoping also to avoid Potter with this hair.

Alice and Frank were flirting with one another and Marlene also seemed to be braking some friend-zone boundaries with Kieran. Mary muttered something about finding Andrew and I decided rather than being the fifth wheel I would go and find Sirius or Remus or Sev. I spotted Sev by the drinks table. He was standing rather awkwardly alone and was sipping his drink whilst glaring at the couples revolving around the dance floor.

'Hey Sev!' I said brightly, causing him to nearly choke on his drink.

'Lily? Why have you got brown hair?'

'So I can talk to you without you're mates noticing...' I said slightly sheepishly.

'Really? That's not the best idea. Maybe we could have arranged somewhere to meet up instead.'

'Oh, yeah. I suppose you're right.' I semi-whispered. I was beaten because Sev was making it seem like he didn't want to talk to me at all. 'So, do yo-'

'All this dancing is making me sick. It's all pointless. How is moving on the spot fun? Anyone who likes dancing is a fool. I can just as easily talk to someone instead.'

'Mmmh.' I answered dejectedly. I could feel tears forming in my eyes. Urgh! I blinked them away furiously. 'I'll...I'll see you around Sev.'

Walking back across the Great Hall, I wondered if Sev even liked me anymore. I watched Alice dancing with Frank for a while and when she glanced at me I forced a smile. Mary was dancing not so far away with her boyfriend Andrew. She was laughing happily at something Andrew had said. Marlene and Kieran were sitting at a table together giggling tipsily. They all looked so happy and I felt a twinge of envy as I watched them.

'I'm sorry ladies but I've already promised this young lady here a dance. Please excuse me.' sounded Sirius's voice. He knew I had brown hair for the Ball having seen it as me and the girls left Gryffindor Tower. 'Lily, would you do me the honour of a dance?'

'Sure Sirius'

And we began to dance. I yawned widely.

'Can I just fall asleep while we dance?' I asked as I leant on his chest. For most people this would be seen as intimate but for us it was like Sirius was the big brother and I was the little sister. I snuggled in and shut my eyes as we continued to dance.

'You know Lily, I'm tempted to let you be punished for being a morning person. But you snuggling into me is bringing out too many jealous reactions from the female population and it's hilarious.'

'I can see why they all love you. You're so thoughtful.'

'Careful,' he said seriously, 'or I won't let you lean on me.'

'Fine. You are the most caring person on Earth and I know exactly why they all want to be with you.'

'Much better!' I shut my eyes again contentedly. We revolved in companionable silence a few more times before Sirius spoke again. 'Danced with Snivellus yet? He looks rather lonely.'

'He doesn't want to dance.'

'He rejected you?'

'I didn't ask but he had a rant about how awful dancing was so I took my leave and went to where you asked me to dance.'

'Well, don't take it to heart. He was always a greasy git.'

'Don't say that about him.' but there was no real commitment in my voice.

'I still maintain he's a shit.'

'Whatever you say.'

I glanced at some of the people standing at the edge of the dance floor. There was quite a large number of girls glaring daggers at me.

'You know, I think I understand why you didn't want to dance with them. They look ready to kill.' He chuckled.

'It's brilliant dancing with brunette you. They don't know who you are and it's pissing them off so much!'

'You sound way to gleeful about that.'

'But it's just so funny!'

The song ended and Sirius led me back to the edge of the hall. In an instant, a whole troop of girls made a beeline for Sirius.

'Fuck!' he muttered and I smirked in response. 'Help me Lily! I've already got luck tonight and I'm not that disrespectful to do it twice in one night.'

'Fine, but you have to work with me.' I moved my mouth to his ear. 'I'm going to Gryffindor tower so you can follow me out of the Great Hall but wait a few second before leaving. Make it believable.'

With that, I sashayed off and out of the Great Hall. To the outsider it looked like I had just been seducing Sirius and finally made him an offer. I bit back a laugh as I imagined the thunderstruck faces of all the girls who had wanted to flirt with Sirius. I waited for him and the two of us walked back to the common room clutching our sides as we laughed the night away.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **This it's a bit early but I finished it today so I thought I might as well upload today. Not sure how I feel about it but I do like some aspects of it. Will Lily spy on Snape? All will be answered.**

 **Also I'm aware Lily has been spending a lot of time with Sirius. Her relationship with Remus still needs to be developed but that isn't happening next chapter (probably).**

 **Please Review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **A/N: This is attempt 3 at writing this chapter. Hope it's alright.**

 **Enjoy :)**

'Sirius, this isn't going to work.' I berated as he dragged me down the staircase which led to the dungeons. In an idiotic move I had agreed to join Sirius for spying on Sev and was regretting my decision. I was a prefect and should not have been sneaking around the school but then again, here I was, following Sirius into a plan that was certain to fail. Hovering outside the room Sev was in to eavesdrop didn't sound very failsafe to me but then again once I had agreed to do this there was no backing out.

'Will you quit complaining and cast the ruddy spells already?' Huffing slightly, I cast disillusionment charms and silencing charms over the pair of us. The particular band of Slytherins we were planning to spy on were currently residing in one of the many empty dungeons that sat beneath the castle. Sev was of course among them as well as Avery, Lestrange, Bulstrode and Black (Sirius' older cousin Bellatrix). I had no idea how Sirius knew exactly where they were or who exactly was there but I knew better than to ask.

We moved silent as the grave along the eerily lit corridors. The slightly blueish light elongated the shadows around us making them look monstrous and as though at every step Filch, the caretaker, was looming out of them to catch us. An icy chill also seemed to have settled and I shivered involuntarily as we continued on our way. As we reached our destination, I noticed the door was ajar and the flickering light from the room beyond it bounced menacingly before me. It occurred to me how strange it was that the door was open but I pushed it to the back of my mind as the invisible force, that was Sirius, elbowed me in the back. Sirius and I (well I assumed Sirius did because I couldn't see him) listened in to the conversation that was occurring in the next room.

'So we start after Christmas?'

'Yes. If nothing happens before then it would be best.'

'Why?'

'You serious? You sure you've go' a brain Bulstrode?'

'To lull them into a false sense of security, that's why.'

'Yeah, listen to Snape.'

'We'd better get out of here before someone finds us. We all remember the mission and plan?'

They must have nodded in response because there was the sudden shuffle of feet and I sprang away from where I was standing and into the shadows. The five Slytherins disappeared down the corridor and after a few moments I felt Sirius grab my arm and we wandered back towards Gryffindor Tower. They hadn't noticed us which was good because if you looked at someone who had a disillusionment charm on them, their outline was slightly visible due to the slight haze which hung around the edges of their body.

Neither of us spoke on the journey back to Gryffindor Tower. I removed they charms I had cast and we split of to our respective dormitories, minds still buzzing with what we had overheard.

* * *

I lay awake a few hours later and stared at the canopy of my four-poster bed. What were Sev and his mates up to?

There had been a time where I would instantly deny Sev's involvement in anything bad. Now however, I couldn't turn a blind eye because I knew deep down that he involved himself in things that were cruel and harmful to other people. He loved the dark arts and would probably chose them over me every time.

There had been a time when Sev told me my blood status didn't matter. When we were kids and there seemed to be no troubles in the world. That's when he told me.

But Hogwarts changed us. He began to sink deeper and deeper into the dark arts and I further and further away from him. None of my other friends liked him and his friends certainly didn't like me though that never seemed a barrier in first year. In second year we grew more distant as politics came into play and in third year we saw even less of each other. Fourth year was the same as third and this year seemed to be the same. Whether Sev wanted to be my friend or not, I knew I would cling on for as long as possible. I would always care about him and his problems even if he joined Voldemort and was out to kill me. He would always be Sev; the boy who told me I was a witch. The boy who told me about the magical world. The boy who told me that I was equal to any other pureblood or half-blood or muggleborn. The boy who was named Sev. The boy who was my best friend.

As to what he and his cronies were up to: I had no idea. I felt even more in the dark than I had to begin with.

Some thing was happening after Christmas. What?

People were going to be lulled into a false sense of security. Why was that necessary?

'Them' were the targets. Who?

And how dangerous would the results of their mission be?

* * *

Remus and I were on prefect duty together and for the first time in an age he spoke about Sirius. True, he was ranting about him but it was a start.

'And he doesn't care,' There had been a new dessert at dinner. 'acts like nothing's happened,' It had been a really tasty chocolate cake. 'you know he's always been like this but I never thought,' I wondered if they would serve it again tomorrow because it had been rather delicious. In fact, I was pretty sure that Professor Dumbledore had had about 3 pieces which surely meant they'd have it again.

'Yeah.' I said, more agreeing with my thoughts that with whatever Remus was saying.

'He hasn't even apologised to me!'

'Well, it's quite hard to apologise to someone who runs from the room whenever you enter.' I countered. Remus blanched slightly.

'That's because...I haven't been...That is to say...'

'Hey, it's okay to be uncomfortable around him. Sirius did something to break the trust you had in him and now it's going to take a while for you to build it up again.'

'I...'

'Remus, people make mistakes. Big mistakes. Small mistakes. But they happen and we just have to be ready to forgive them. If their truly sorry that they deserve to be forgiven but it may take longer for those that they hurt. Like I said, he broke your trust and it's not going to be fixed straight away.'

He looked at his feet.

'Is it bad that I feel guilty about forgiving Sirius? Prongs hasn't forgiven him and as far as I can tell neither has Wormtail.'

'You forgive him when you feel ready. You're not Potter or Peter. You make up your own mind.'

'Prongs said I shouldn't ever forgive him.' He sounded rather like a small child that was following the orders of their older sibling.

'And if Potter said to jump into a volcano? Would you do it?' He shook his head. 'See? Potter isn't you Remus and you don't have to do everything he says.'

'He looks out for me though. He's kept my secret safe. He and Sirius too I suppose, tried so hard to find a way to make the full moon easier for me. Peter was only too happy to join in even if he wasn't so good in the research department. Sirius is just reckless and now I'm not sure I can feel truly safe around him.'

His response reminded me of something I had been meaning to ask Remus.

'Remus? You know when you go to transform and then Sirius, Peter and Potter join you?' I asked cautiously. Remus raised an eyebrow. 'I'm not asking how they do it!' I cried indignantly and Remus raised his arms in mock surrender before I continued. 'Can Peter and Potter cope with you by themselves or is Sirius needed?'

He studied me for a while and I waited in silence.

'I think that Sirius being there would be easier. Better be safe than sorry I suppose. James won't like it though and I don't really want to talk to Sirius yet. Peter will be fine with it, I'm sure.'

'I'll talk to Potter and Sirius if you don't want to. It's for their safety and your benefit too so hopefully Potter will agree. I'm sure Sirius will want to try and make it up to you so helping with this is something he'll agree to.'

'Better you than me telling Prongs. He won't yell at you.'

'Remus John Lupin! Don't tell me you're scared of your best mate's temper!'

'Trust me, you haven't seen James in a rage. He would never show it to you in case he loses control and frightens you.'

'Sure. Potter cares so much about my feelings and whether I'm scared or not.'

'You're telling James that Sirius is joining for full moon.'

'I already said I would.'

'Just checking.' he answered defensively. We ended our rounds and I left for the girls dormitory wondering how on Earth I would tell Potter about the plan for the full moon without screaming at him in frustration.

* * *

Transfiguration the next day was a noisy affair. It was November and people were already getting excited for Christmas. Professor McGonagall has assigned us some written work but given us permission to talk. Perhaps she regretted that decision once the rumble of talk started.

Alice was sitting next to me and mumbling to herself. Something had evidently gone wrong at the Ball because she was now avoiding Frank like the plague. Her mumbling persisted and it sounded as though she was convincing herself to stay in the lesson instead of sprinting out. Frank had had the extremely bright idea of taking the seat on the other side of her. He kept trying to speak with her but to no avail and he clearly wasn't getting the message that she was extremely uncomfortable in his presence.

To my right sat Mary who had her daydreaming face on. I guessed she was probably thinking about Andrew and to her right sat Marlene who looked pissed off. She kept sending death glares in Frank's direction. Although Alice hadn't told anyone what had happened, the girls and I had of course immediately sided with Alice. Mary and I were content to only give Frank the cold shoulder but Marlene had already threatened to beat Frank up, yelled at him several times and glowered at him whenever possible.

Having finished my work, I began writing a note to Potter. I needed to tell him about Sirius because otherwise there would be uproar on the day and that would waste time. Finishing the note, I scrunched it into a ball and when I was sure McGonagall was preoccupied lobbed the ball of parchment at Potter's head.

 **A note from Lily Evans to James Potter**

Potter, we need to talk after class. In private?

 **A note from James Potter to Lily Evans**

Of course, my dear Evans. Should I be worried?

I could imagine his smug face as he wrote his response so I scowled at the offending piece of parchment and didn't reply. The remainder of the lesson passed quickly and I stood to the side of everyone else to 'tie my shoelaces' as they all rushed to lunch. Potter was leaning casually against one of the wall in the corridors and he smirked at me as I made my way towards him. Wordlessly, I indicated to a classroom up ahead which I knew was unused and the two of us headed towards it. I trudged resignedly alongside Potter who was strutting along like an idiot.

We entered and just like the time when Potter had tried to warn me from hanging around with Sirius, we seated ourselves on opposite desks.

'So Evans, what did you want?' he said breaking the silence.

'You know the full moon's coming up in a few days...' He nodded but looked confused. 'Well Remus and I both agreed that you and Peter can't cope with Remus as a werewolf on your own so Sirius would need to join you. This-' I said loudly over Potter's attempt at arguing. 'Is necessary if you want to stay safe and protect Remus from doing serious harm to you and or Peter.'

'I don't think Black has any right to even go near Remus.'

'Well, what you think is irrelevant because this concerns everyone's safety not just you and your childish maintaining of grudges!'

'They're not childish! Why don't you invite Snivellus along too?'

'You are impossible. Tell me Potter are you 15 years old or only 5?'

'Well that's better than trying to act like I'm better than everyone else!'

'Are you sure you're not just describing yourself?'

'Don't play dumb Evans. You walk around here acting like you're cleverer that the rest of us. Like you're too good to share anything about yourself with anyone else!'

'What?' My voice cracked slightly. I didn't like talking about myself to other people but was what Potter said true?

'You heard me. I bet your friends don't even know if you have any siblings or not.'

'At least I care about my mates and don't shun them away for a mistake they made!' I answered shrilly. This was why I had wanted Remus to tell Potter about Sirius and not me. We were completely off topic now.

'Oh don't you bring that one in Evans! Black is a prick and he may have pulled the wool over your eyes but-'

'Sirius is coming whether you like it or not and if I find out you attacked him Potter there will be Hell to pay!'

I stormed out of the classroom, furiously blinking back tears, and hid myself in an abandoned broom cupboard. Once the door shut behind me, the tears fell thick and fast down my face. I had lost control back in that room with Potter and I had been so close to attacking him with any hex I could think of. I took long steadying breaths in an attempt to calm down but they ended up shaky and I gave up trying to stabilise them.

Was it true that I thought I was better than others? I was true I rarely said anything about myself so perhaps it was also so that I thought myself higher up than the rest.

Urgh Potter!

Potter and I's relationship was interesting. We didn't interact much but when we did it could go one of four ways.

1\. He would ask me out and say something completely inappropriate alongside it.

2\. We would have an enjoyable conversation which would make me think of how we could have been friends if he wasn't such a prick.

3\. He would make fun of me. It was strange how out of all the people who insulted me, it was Potter's insults that hurt the most.

4\. We would argue. Though admittedly, our arguments had never made me cry before.

* * *

The three boys had returned from their full moon escapade without looking like they had tried to kill each other. This I reflected, as I dabbed Peter's arm with a wound cleaning potion, was surely a good sign. I worked in silence and the boys spoke only very little as I healed them. Potter called Sirius 'Sirius' instead of 'Black' which was also a positive sign. I said nothing however, and the boys headed sleepily to bed once I was done. I smiled to myself because perhaps Potter was closer to forgiving Sirius than he had ever let on.

* * *

Alice was still in an extremely uneasy mood so Mary decided that we all needed a pamper day. Marlene too was tense and I had a feeling that Frank had perhaps been pestering Alice to talk to him too much for Marlene's liking. Frank had turned up in Herbology on Friday with a black eye and refused to tell anyone why. I had a feeling Ben and Kieran both knew its cause because they were sniggering at Frank for the entirety of the lesson.

Mary decided Saturday would be ideal because we would then have an entire day to pamper ourselves. Spa days were my kind of nightmare and on Friday evening I had actually had a dream that two large white towels chased me into a sauna and locked the door. The idea of spending my day doing my nails and wearing a face mask did not appeal to me.

It was for Alice, I told myself again and again in the hours leading to Saturday.

* * *

The sky was a brilliant blue and sat proudly in the crisp, clean air. The trees shivered as a breeze knocked off the last their leaves and the icy water of the lake rippled irritably as it too was disturbed by the breeze which wafted through the castle grounds. The sun shone warmly on the earthy, moss-covered mound at the side of the lake furthest away from the castle. A few auburn leaves fluttered their way into the vicinity but other than that the scene was undisturbed.

It was here that I sat, trying to sketch the lake with the castle behind it so I could send it home to my parents. I had often described the grounds to them but it was easier to show them when trying to explain their serene beauty. My surroundings were content and I felt at peace with the world in my current location. I was away from the hubbub of Hogwarts, the mutterings of Mudblood that passed me in the corridors and the boastings of James Potter. Here was my refuge and here I could also successfully hide from my girlfriends who were planning to have a pamper day for the next 12 hours at least.

Thinking I heard something rustle behind me, I turned around. As far as I could see there was nothing thing. the rustling noise persisted and this time I looked up to see Potter flying on his broomstick and brushing his feet against the tops of the trees. He spotted me and directed himself towards the ground. As he stepped off his broom, he bowed to me.

'Evans, I've been sent to find and escort you to Gryffindor.'

'Did the Girls send you?'

'That they did.' I groaned.

'Well I'm afraid your journey was pointless. There is no way I'm having any part in their pamper day.'

'But Evans, I promised I'd bring you back.' he whined.

'Quit complaining!' I snapped a tad more aggressively than intended. He looked me in the eyes with his intense gaze that had most of the girls at Hogwarts squealing with delight. They were hazel but I noted that they also seemed to have flecks of gold in them. His tanned skin seemed to exaggerate the gold but it was only on closer inspection that you could notice them. I realised that I had never really maintained eye contact with Potter. Generally, I preferred to look at his forehead so that I looked like I was looking him in the eyes without actually doing so.

'You know, most girls love the idea of pampering and pamper days.' He sounded far too amused and reminded me of Remus when I had forced him to join Marlene, Mary, Sirius and I in Hogsmeade.

'Yes, well, most girls love the idea of shopping but I wouldn't join their ranks there either.'

'I'll agree with you on that one, Shopping is a chore and a half. My mother loves it and in the holidays takes me whenever she can.' He put on a high pitched voice. 'James, try that on. James, does this look good on me? James, do I own this already? James! James! James!'

I laughed and was surprised at how easily I did. Being guarded around Potter was something I could almost have a qualification in.

'I can't say my mum wouldn't be the same if she wasn't...if we weren't...if...never mind...' Immediately, I regretted the sentence I had blurted out but to my amazement, Potter had the decency to continue as though I had said nothing.

'She's even worse with my father.' He resumed his high pitched voice. 'Harry do you think this suits me? Harry? Harry? Harold James Potter! Tell me this instant what you think of this set of dress robes!'

I CHUCKLED!?

'My parents don't really go shopping. My sister does though. She's probably just the same with her boyfriend but I wouldn't really know.'

'I didn't know you had a sister.' he said slightly sheepishly. Clearly our previous argument had come to mind. I shrugged.

'Not much to say.' Oh yeah, aside from the fact that she hates me, thinks I'm a freak and told her boyfriend I'm mentally impaired, I thought bitterly but I wasn't going to tell Potter that.

'I'm an only child but my parents treat Sirius like a second son. He's around so often he basically lives with us.' I smiled at that because once again he called Sirius 'Sirius'. Potter spoke of him the way he used to which meant he was definitely beginning to forgive Sirius.

'My sister moved out a few years ago. Got a job in London plus a flat.'

'How old is she?'

'19 in December.' I said sadly. Tuney was a grown woman now and knew what she wanted. A marriage to Vernon was likely just around the corner.

'You miss her then?' Potter asked softly, completely misinterpreting my sad tone.

'Something like that.'

He patted my back in what he clearly thought was a comforting way. It just felt odd to me as we began to head back toward the castle because it made me reflect on the fact that we could have been great friends if he didn't ask me out from time to time. If he wasn't a bully. If he didn't make fun of me most of the time. If he wasn't the James Potter I saw and no one else did.

'So,' I said, grinning evilly. 'You like pamper days...'

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I put two different Lily/James moments in because I reckon that they also interacted when James didn't ask her out. Also, I don't think James asked her out all the time. He probably asked a lot but not as often as some people make him ask.**

 **What Sirius and Lily overheard will begin to play a bigger role later on so remember it but it won't necessarily happen soon. I did say it's happening after Christmas.**

 **What's happening with Alice and Frank? Interesting...**

 **Also I'm thinking of introducing a new character next chapter who James isn't going to like and probably have a bit of a Lily and Snape moment.**

 **Please review.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

 **A/N: Sorry that this is late but I was busy!**

 **I'm pretty sure that this chapter isn't going to be enthralling. A few things are going happen though so that's good. Hope you like it.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The Great Hall was full of noise during Second Breakfast. Girls gossiped delightedly as they found out the failures of one of their peers. Screams of mirth would occasionally sound from gangs of friends and also a random snort could be heard every so often. Boys sat talking animatedly and took the piss of their mates and fellow breakfast eaters. Couples cuddled whilst crushes caught each other's eyes.

Content sat smugly in the air and seemed to watch the Hogwarts students as they ate their first meal of the day. There was still at least half an hour before the first lesson which meant the students in the Hall were relaxed. The Slytherins talked quietly but enthusiastically amongst themselves. The Hufflepuffs nattered about this and that. The Ravenclaws giggled about the endeavours of their peers. The Gryffindors tried to tell a dull story to their friends in an impressive and interesting way. All in all, Hogwarts was happy.

And then came my mates and I. Alice eyes were red and puffy from a breakdown she'd had last night, Mary looked pissed off and Marlene simply looked like she had swallowed about a million lemons. Me? Well I didn't look sour but I was frowning.

The breakdown of Alice Prewitt had happened at around 3 in the morning when the rest of the Girls and I woke up to the sound of her sniffling. Not a second after we had pulled back her hangings did she begin sobbing her heart out. Mary wrapped her arms around Alice and began rocking her as I settled myself cross-legged in front of them. Marlene paced next to Alice's bed and was the one who asked for an explanation. What we received was the reason Alice was avoiding Frank.

It turned out that after the two of them had danced Alice had plucked up the courage to kiss him. Frank had kissed her back and the two only broke apart due to the unfortunate human defect of needing to breath. Well, maybe she didn't say it such a refined way but DID IT REALLY MATTER INTERNAL MONOLOGUE? Then Frank began speaking which is where everything went wrong for poor Alice. He said:  
'We're great friends Alice and I would never want to ruin that. We've always been mates...' To which Alice, quite rightly in my opinion, slapped him and ran off.

Needless to say, Frank Longbottom was no longer looked upon with anything resembling kindness. True we had been cold shouldering him already but then there had still been a chance we would be civil towards him. Now there was no chance he'd even get recognition of existence from the Girls. I wasn't sure how I would act towards him purely because I was all for forgiving those who did something wrong but I knew that I had to side and I would side with Alice without a seconds hesitation. Frank was a git and there was no other way to put it. He didn't deserve Alice's attention.

Speak of the devil, I thought as Longbottom entered. All four of us refused to acknowledge his presence and Alice began determinately discussing our Transfiguration homework. She had visibly tensed when he passed and only relaxed when he was sitting at least 20 seats down from us with Ben and Kieran.

The post owls arrived and a large tawny owl made its way towards me. I had saved up in the summer holidays before 4th year to buy my parents an owl. The school had owls so I could easily contact them but they had no way of telling me something unless I had written first. They had named the owl Rose. I had no idea why. Rose dropped a letter in front of me but I decided against opening it with everyone around me. Instead I put the letter in my bag for later.

* * *

We had Care of Magical Creatures first and so made our way through the grounds to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. To my delight, I saw Sirius already there and laughing with the rest of the Marauders. They had made up again! I did an internal victory dance and grinned at Sirius and Remus who both returned the look.

Professor Kettleburn arrived and with him he carried a large pile of crates. I immediately rushed forward to help him.

'Thank you, Miss Evans.'

We place the crates down and I looked into them to see a small creature with black fluffy fur and a long snout. Nifflers! As the rest of the class saw them there was promptly an 'Awww' sound from all the girls (except Marlene and I). Professor Kettleburn began enthusiastically talking.

'In today's class we will be studying nifflers. You will divide into pairs and in your pairs you will have one niffler. Each of you must produce a labelled sketch which if not finished in the lesson must be finished for homework.' There was a collective groan fro the whole class. 'But first, who can tell me what nifflers do? Ah, Miss Evans?'

'They're treasure hunters. The name niffler comes from the verb niffle which means to pilfer. They collect shiny objects and this makes them therefore impossible to have as pets because they ruin houses in search of something shiny.'

'A perfect answer! 20 points to Gryffindor. Now before we take the nifflers out of the crates, I would suggest that everyone removes valuables and anything shiny really. You can place them in this valuable box. Even if something isn't visible the nifflers will find it so any piercings that are not on display would bet be removed.'

The rush from the girls to remove bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings and watches was slightly amusing.

 **James Potter's POV:**

As usual, I found myself watching Evans. Padfoot was next to me clutching his side as he laughed with Wormtail and Mooney. I, on the otherhand, was too distracted to join in.

Evans' deep red hair was hung over one of her shoulders in its usual braid. She seemed to watch the other girls with profound entertainment as they removed their jewellery. The jewellery Evans wore herself had surprised me. She was beautiful and I had assumed like all girls that she would have lots of jewellery to match her looks. However, all she had removed was her prefect badge and a tarnished silver necklace which seemed to have some sort of symbol hanging on the chain. I didn't recognise it but thought that it probably had some meaning to it.

We split into pairs and began looking at the nifflers. Sirius and I both looked at the creature with disinterest.

'So what did Evans say was the point of this?'

 **Back to Lily Evans' POV:**

Alice and I set about sketching our niffler. He was extremely cute and kept trying to climb on to Alice's lap and put his elongated nose in Alice's ear. Apparently, he was also very tickly judging by how much Alice kept giggling. Perhaps this niffler had been just what she needed.

Longbottom was watching Alice. I glowered. Marlene too noticed him staring and threw a pinecone very discreetly at his head so that Kettleburn wouldn't notice.

'Oi, Longbottom!' She said coldly, as the pinecone hit its target. 'Keep those eyes to yourself or I'll be happy to hex them.'

He looked at her in surprise and she looked stonily back at his face. I could here Sirius and Potter laughing in the background. Turning back to my work, I heard Alice mumble 'Thanks.' before she continued her cuddling with the niffler.

* * *

Divination was the last lesson of the day and so the Girls and I made our way to North Tower. Upon entering, we saw immediately that Professor Conan had made a new seating plan. I was now to share a table with a Hufflepuff called Tom Clarke. He was one of my fellow prefects and seemed alright from the times I had interacted with him which had admittedly been very little.

Tom made his way over and grinned at me as he sat down. He was around average height (still taller than me and my short self) with blondish brown hair and striking blue eyes. He looked like the kind of person who was almost always in a good mood and was probably also quite optimistic.

'Hey Lily!' he said as cheerfully as anticipated.

'Hi!' I answered, echoing his tone. He was about to say something else when Conan began speaking.

'This half term we shall be continuing with dream interpreting. Today you shall be sharing a dream with your partner and together you will try and find meaning in it. You may begin...'

I turned back to Tom.

'You first.' he said straight away. 'I've still got to remember one.'

'Fine. Let's think...' I tried to think of a dream. 'Well, a few nights ago I dreamt that I was standing on a road in the middle of nowhere with my sister. Then a tornado suddenly turned up and we were lost in it.'

'Interesting.'

The book says,' I said flicking through my textbook in dream interpretation. 'that the middle of nowhere symbolises that I feel isolated and that the tornado means that I feel I've lost control.' Wow, I thought to myself, how deep and meaningful. 'Tom?'

'I have no idea. Probably just means you were thinking of being in a Tornado with your sister.'

'No shit, Sherlock.'

He laughed. Tom's laugh was infectious and within two seconds, I was laughing too. We were in hysterics for a good two minutes. He was the first to calm down.

'You know, I haven't heard anyone use that phrase since I came here.'

'One of my best mates is muggleborn so lots of those phrases have stuck.' Mary and I both used phrases from the non-magical world and even Remus understood some of them because he read muggle literature.

'Muggle phrases definitely beat wizard ones.'

'Too true.'

'Want to hear my dream?' I grinned.

'Sure.'

'I was in History of Magic and suddenly all the desks turned to marshmallows. Everyone started to eat the tables/marshmallows and Professor Binns told us to stop before two puppies ran in and began playing fetch with me.'

I smiled at how happy his dream was.

'Maybe you're predicting the next Marauder prank.'

Tom roared with laughter and once again, I found myself joining in. It had been by far one of the best Divination lessons I'd had in a long time.

* * *

At dinner the general mood of my friends seemed to have lifted slightly. Alice and Marlene were laughing about their predictions from Divination and Mary was smiling absentmindedly to herself. Her boyfriend Andrew had given her a rose at lunch time to mark their two month anniversary and she had been in her Andrew dreamland ever since. Once in this state it was impossible to hold a proper conversation with her so instead I sat opposite her and ate in silence.

I thought of the letter that had been sitting at the bottom of my bag all day and wondered what it said. I had avoided reading it so far because I was always surrounded by people and I didn't really want others reading my letters. Now however, there was no one paying me any attention so I felt safe enough to read it. I lent my arm underneath the table and fumbled around my bag until my hang clasped around the rectangular envelope. I glanced around surreptitiously before opening the letter.

 **A letter from Petunia Evans to Lily Evans:**

Dear Lily,

I'm writing to you to tell you that Vernon proposed to me and we're now engaged to be married. Mummy wanted me to write to you but in all honesty I was going to anyway. We have never truly seen eye to eye but I'm being you in this situation for a change. I'm giving you a chance to not be a freak and be one of my bridesmaids at the wedding. It's going to be a fancy affair and Vernon's family have generously said they would pay for everything. I don't want you to ruin my big day but I want you to be there.

This sounds silly as I write this but after I agreed to marry Vernon I remembered that day when I had my first crush. I remembered us making a promise to one another that we would be bridesmaids at each other's weddings. Of course that was before I found out you were a freak but that memory keeps playing in the back of my head and I want to put it to rest.

The rest of our family doesn't know about your abnormality and doesn't know about the disagreement between us so as someone who cares about appearances, I need to show them that there is no such issue. It's going to be my big day so I don't want anything going wrong. I don't need a day of awkward questions about our relationship and I don't need any of your freakish ways to show themselves at my wedding.

I'm sending your dress once I've decided on the bridesmaid dresses. You won't be able to attend the fitting so you'll have to do it yourself. Luckily, your dress isn't as important as the Maid of Honour's but I don't want one of my bridesmaids looking like a tramp so you'd better adjust it properly! By the way, Claire is Maid of Honour.

Yours sincerely,

Petunia

I stared at the piece of paper, my hands trembling. Petunia engaged to Vernon? I had known it was coming but not as soon as this. The words seemed to fly around me in a blur as her voice rang in my ears. 'we're now engaged...to be married...' She spoke to me as if on repeat and my hands continued to shake as I stuffed the letter back into my bag before anyone noticed it. I stood up abruptly and mumbled something about the library as I made my way out of the Great Hall. Where I was actually going I had no idea but my feet led me into the grounds. I walked on and passed the greenhouses and made my way towards the furthest side of the lake. To my spot by the lake. To my sanctuary.

It was Sev that had first shown it to me. Here we had met up as often as we could in first year and continued this until eventually he never went anymore. I still went but to be alone and I had only once been found. It was dark by the time I arrived but I cast a small bluebell coloured fire for light and warmth. It cast a slightly ghostly blue light on my surroundings but I didn't care because at the same time, the light was almost comforting. I looked past the light and into the abyss of black as I regained control of my emotions and stopped the tears which had been trying to fall.

'Lily?' a voice called out into the night. It was Sev.

'Sev?' He came into the light.

'What are you doing out here in the dark? It's not safe an-' I had thrown myself at him in a hug. Burrowing into his chest, I heard his intake of breath before he put his arms around me. 'Lily? What's wrong?'

'It's Tuney.' I answered. My voice quivered slightly. Sev was the only one I ever admitted my problems to even if I hardly ever saw him. Perhaps it was because I had know him longest out of everyone at Hogwarts. Or perhaps it was because he understood what I meant instantly.

'What's she done this time?'

'She's getting m-m-married...' I barely whispered in response. He hugged me tighter. We stayed this way for a moment before he released me and stepped back hastily. He checked his watch.

'Listen Lily, I'm meeting someone here in a few minutes. You need to go.' He was dismissing me. I simply nodded and headed back towards to castle. although Sev was the only one I admitted things about myself to, he never really made me feel better. There had been a point in our friendship when his company had made me feel better but those days were long gone.

* * *

As I returned to the common room, my eyes fell on two fifth years who were locked in a furious shouting match. Marlene and Longbottom were bellowing insults at each other and seemed unaware that most had scarpered from the room. Those remaining were cowering against the wall. Kieran stood uncertainly behind Longbottom but his gaze flicked every so often to Marlene. Mary (evidently back in reality) and Alice stood behind Marlene. Mary seemed to be shielding Alice whilst her eyes shone with fire as she looked upon Longbottom. Alice was trembling slightly and seemed to be holding tears.

'Just piss off and leave Alice alone! She doesn't need a tosser like you hurting her!'

'Hurt her!? Says the girl who throws a punch at anything with a pulse!'

'You little piece of shit! Alice doesn't want anything to do with you!'

'Stay out of it Young! This is between me and her. It's nothing to do with you!'

'Oh yeah? As soon as you hurt her it became my business, you absolute wanker!'

'Oh fuck off! You don't know anything about this!'

Big mistake.

'Everyone calm down.' I cried slightly panicked as Marlene launched herself at Longbottom. Her fist collided with his jaw with a nasty crunch and he was thrown back by the force of her punch. But she didn't stop there and began beating up any part of him which she could reach. 'Marls stop.' I said as I tried to pry her of Longbottom. She continued to pummel him. 'Please stop it...' No one was coming to my aid, all too afraid of the wrath of Marlene. Another fruitless attempt at separating the two later and I was getting desperate. I tugged at my plait. However as I tried once again to split up the fight, a pair of strong arms pulled Marlene back. I looked up gratefully into the eyes of Potter. My own eyes widened in shock before returning to the matter in hand.

Longbottom had a few scratches on his face alongside a black-eye which was swelling up and a dislocated jaw. I jabbed my wand at his injuries and healed them before turning to Marlene. Potter was still restraining her but she looked unhurt. After a few moments Mary took both Alice and Marlene upstairs and Kieran took Longbottom to the boys dormitory. That left Potter and I. I studied him nervously.

'You alright Evans?' he asked as he took in my expression. I nodded. 'What's up with Young? I know she gets angry but that..' He indicated after Marlene.

'She's very protective of her friends.'

'Still, I've played Quidditch for years with her and I've never seen her in that kind of rage.'

'Perhaps you haven't been looking enough.' I said helpfully. He gave me an odd look which I couldn't read. An emotion had flicked across his eyes too quickly to register the meaning of. 'Well, I'd better go after the others.'

He still said nothing. In fact he didn't even respond to my sentence, only continued to watch me with that strange unreadable gaze.

'Oh and Potter?'

'Mmmh?'

I paused and tugged my plait again.

'Thanks...' And with that I scurried off up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, leaving Potter at the foot of it still wearing that expression which I couldn't understand.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **What did you think? Did you like Tom? He's going to be developed a bit later on but not straight away. Next Chapter a bit of Quidditch and then the after party. What fun!**

 **Please Review :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **A/N: This chapter is hopefully going to be good. Quidditch matches are not my speciality so don't kill me for writing it really badly.**

 **Enjoy :)**

Hogwarts was in the thick of a Quidditch match. The Gryffindor verses Hufflepuff match to be exact. Mary was cheering her boyfriend (Andrew was keeper and captain on the Gryffindor team) on with extreme enthusiasm and Alice was next to her waving a scarlet and gold flag. Remus was commentating and Peter was with him in the commentating box so I sat in the stands alone because I didn't want to cheer like Alice and Mary. I disliked Quidditch immensely because I felt there was nothing interesting about flying on a broomstick chasing or being chased by a ball. To me football **[A/N: Soccer for anyone who doesn't know it as football]** was the best sport and wizarding sports could not equate to the feeling of running around a pitch kicking a ball. That was sport not flying on a broom without doing any actual exercise. Not that I would ever tell Marlene or Sirius that.

'Young passes to McKinnon who passes to Potter who SCORES!' The crowd of red clad supporters screamed in delight and began doing a Mexican wave. As they all stood up I stayed sitting and glowered at the floor whilst thinking of if this was any other 'sport' I would be in a good mood. 'Potter narrowly misses a blugders hit by- WAIT! Diggory and Davis are neck and neck in that dive. The snitch is in sight! Who's going to reach it first. Come on you two!'

The two seekers were plummeting towards the ground at break next speed. Davis in his scarlet Quidditch robes and Diggory in his yellow ones. They were a blur of colour as they continued rocketing towards the snitch. Remus was jumping in agitation on the spot as he shouted encouragement to both seekers. There was many good things about Remus' commentary but the one thing that impressed me the most was that he was never biased with his enthusiasm and expressed equal amounts of support for both teams.

'Davis has got the snitch! Gryffindor WIN!' The wave of red turned into a tsunami and rolled onto the pitch to hug the winning team. The Hufflepuffs although disappointed accepted their defeat graciously and they to moved towards the Gryffindor team to offer their congratulations. I had a group hug with the Girls as we praised Marlene and her performance and then Mary left us to find Andrew. Longbottom was moving in our direction so Alice made a hasty retreat to the castle and I forced Marlene to accompany her to save the world from another violent argument. I hung back to talk to Sirius and Remus. Sadly for me, the Marauders had already regrouped which meant Potter would try and talk to me as well. I snuck up behind Remus and Sirius and put my arms around them which made them jump.

'How's my two favourite boys?'

Remus turned his head and grinned at me. Sirius winked but looked irritated about something.

'Lily tell Prongs that turning the main staircase into a waterslide is a better idea than turning the Charms corridor into a swamp.' Sirius pouted and both Remus and Peter laughed while Potter smirked.

'Why don't you just to both and not argue about it?' I sighed. Perhaps as a prefect I shouldn't have been encouraging them to pull more than one prank at a time but I also didn't want to have to deal with the bickering that would likely ensue on the way back to the common room.

'Do my ears deceive me? Did Miss Evans give us permission to perform both pranks?' Potter asked with a smug smile. I raised my eyebrow in response and the five of us headed back towards the Gryffindor common room for the party that was no doubt starting.

* * *

The common room was alive with noise and the celebrations of victory were in full swing. Drink was on one of the far tables and quite a few of the party goers had had far too much to drink already. Sirius lay asleep on the floor next to some girl who he'd been snogging (she too was asleep). I had moved the pair of them into the recovery position and placed water beside them for when they woke up. Remus was chatting with Peter, Kieran, Ben and Longbottom. Mary had disappeared off with Andrew a while ago and Marlene and Alice were performing an extremely wild dance on the dancefloor. A slightly intoxicated dance was the best way of describing their dance but it was also still quite co-ordinated and had attracted the desired effect from the 5th year boys and above.

A few slut drops later and Marlene had bagged herself a 7th whilst Alice was flirting with a 6th year. Longbottom looked extremely pissed at this but he had lost the right to protest when he toyed with Alice's heart.

I watched my drunk peers do things they would most likely regret later and sipped my water. Swaying slightly to the music I sighed. There was technically nothing stopping me from going to bed but I felt I had a duty to prevent my friends from doing anything too stupid.

'Evans!' A groan found its way out of my mouth. Potter waltzed up to me and smirked at my isolation from everyone else. My hand found my plait and tugged. I had no excuse to avoid him and he knew it. 'Would you care for a dance?' My eyes looked slightly startled at his question but smiled in amusement at his phrasing (he was so bloody posh at times - not that anyone else thought so).

'Sure' I answered dully. Being bored made me open to making stupid decisions such as agreeing to dance with Potter. He placed a one of his hand in mind and the other on my waist. We began to revolve on the spot to a slightly uplifted song from the Golden Snidgets.

'So Evans, having fun?' I looked at him incredulously.

'Do I look like I'm having fun?'

'Well, you looked pretty sour over there but you look happier now.'

'Thanks.'

'Your welcome.' He winked at me and I rolled my eyes in disgust. We continued to dance in silence for a moment.

'Oh! Well done on winning by the way.'

'Thanks.'

'Your welcome.' I answered, mimicking him from earlier. He laughed.

'I've been meaning to ask you this Evans, what's up with Young and Frank?'

'Does it matter?'

'Yes. Why did Young try and beat up Frank?'

'It's none of your business Potter.'

'Excuse me, but I helped you split up that fight so I think I have every right to know.'

'That's up to Alice to tell you so don't ask me.'

'Prewitt's involved?' I groaned. Potter sounded like Bertha Jorkins and Rita Skeeter who were two best friends in 7th year and the biggest gossips in the whole school.

'Listen Potter I've told you before to keep your nose out of things that you know nothing about and the same goes now. I'm glad you helped that night but you have no right to demand anything.'

'Yes I do! What's up with them?'

'Let's talk about something else. Anything?'

'Don't change the subject!'

'Sometimes changing the subject is the only thing you can do. It stops stupid things being said.' His hazel eyes became unreadable. He was surveying me and almost felt uncomfortable until I spotted Alice lumbering drunkenly towards Longbottom. 'Oh no you don't.' I turned my attention back to Potter for the briefest of moments. 'Excuse me Potter but I'll have to abandon you. Alice is about to do something stupid.'

* * *

Breakfast next morning was an extremely subdued affair. My only company was a couple of first years, my breakfast and Professor Dumbledore. I had left my roommates still asleep with hangover tonics on their beside tables for when they woke up.

The little first years ate in a giggly fashion whilst I ate my cereal I a peaceable manner. Professor Dumbledore sat at the teachers table in his high-backed chair reading the Daily Prophet. He was frowning at whatever he was reading. Perhaps he had felt me watching him because he looked up at me and smiled. In fact he stood up and walked towards me.

'Ah Miss Evans. I have a favour to ask of you.' His smile shifted slightly and I could tell that his blue eyes looked a little saddened.

'Yes of course Professor.'

'Have you read today's Daily Prophet?' I shook my head. 'There was an attack on a muggle mill town last night by some of those who label themselves as Death Eaters.'

'And the mill town what was it called?' I asked my voice shaking slightly. He bowed his head solemnly.

'Cokesworth.' He momentarily became very interested in his sleeves and this gave me time to regain control of my eyes and their temporary waterfalls. 'The Ministry of Magic is looking for people to identify those dead or wounded. The Minister wanted you to be an identifier knowing that you live there.'

'Sir I-'

'I told him that you were only 15 but he was very insistent. I suppose finding the names of all those victims will offer a little comfort to their families.'

His blue eyes seemed to x-ray me and I instantly felt as though he understood all my emotions. Were my parents and neighbours among injured or worse dead? And what about my home? Was it in ruins? Or was fine? I needed to know.

'I'll do it.' I said my voice quiet but firm.

'You don't have to. You are still young and I think at 15 it is best to stray away from involvement in such things.'

'I'll do it.' My voice sounded more confident this time and louder too. 'I have to know my parents are alright.'

Professor Dumbledore surveyed me with a strange expression. It was a mixture between what was it? Pride? Exasperation? Amusement? Sadness? I wasn't sure what he was feeling but I think he approved of my decision.

'I shall escort you on Monday evening to St Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Meet me in outside my office at 5pm.' He smiled and left me staring after him, blinking back new tears that were deciding to form. The prospect of going to a hospital and maybe seeing my parents lifeless bodies in front of me was not a comforting one.

* * *

Screams echoed from the Entrance Hall as a cascade of water made its way down the main staircase. Except that the main staircase was no longer a staircase but a long slide.

The Girls were one of those who screamed but I had to admit I had not joined in. I had simply raised an eyebrow before transfiguring my robes into a swimming costume. There were a few wolf-whistles but they were mainly from Sirius who stood with the rest of the Marauders at the top of the slide in swimming trunks. I levitated myself to the top of the slide. I needed a distraction from what I was going to do later that evening.

'So boys, who's going first?' None of them answered. I grinned. 'Well if you're not going than I will!' I shut my eyes and dived. My body rocketed down the chute and I could feel my face breaking into a smile. The Girls too were now wearing swimming costumes and were cheering me on as I pelted on down the slide. Reaching the bottom I was met with a loud whop from the crowd and I thought I saw Tom giving me a small wave somewhere in the depths of the crowd. After my success everyone was dying to have a go on the slide and I joined in with everyone else's delight of the slide.

Sirius and Potter were up next. They clung to each other refusing to move until Remus and Peter crept up behind them and pushed. Sirius' scream mixed with Potter's yell of 'Padfoot I blame you for this!' made me crack up with laughter. I had needed this. Ever since Alice had had her issues with Longbottom, ever since Marlene had beaten up Longbottom and ever since there had been an attack on Cokesworth I had needed this to truly cheer me up. Even if it was only a temporary happiness it was all I needed.

More cries of fear sounded but this time from the Charms corridor which had to everyone's (except the Marauder's and my self's) surprise been turned into a swamp. My favourite department's corridor had been turned into a swamp and I wasn't even cross I only sighed slightly knowing that as a prefect I would have to help clear it up.

Resignedly, I turned my swimming costume back into my school uniform. With a quick flick of my wand I dried my plait of hair and left those enjoying the waterslide to go and aid the teachers in clearing the Charms corridor.

'Miss Evans! Thank goodness. We need all hands on deck to clear up this mess. There's quite a few students who are stranded by the swamp.'

I looked down the corridor and saw that there were a few Gryffindor 3rd years surrounded by the brown muddy liquid. I picked up the hem of my robes and began syphoning away a clear trail to reach the 3rd years. As I reached them I saw that one of them, a little girl, was having a small panic attack. The others didn't seem to have noticed and simply pushed passed me to reach the safety of where the teachers stood.

The little girl was shaking and her breathing was rushed and irregular.

'Sit down, it will make you feel a bit better.' I told her and steadied her into a sitting position. Conjuring up a glass of water, I gave it to her. Her shaking hand took the glass gratefully. 'Its going to be fine. The swamp can't hurt you.'

She whimpered but her breathing was becoming more even. All of a sudden she hugged me and began sobbing into my shoulder. 'Hey, hey it's okay.' I patted her on the back. 'How about I take you to the common room? The swamp's nowhere near there...' She nodded into my shoulder and I helped her up. We began our way back to Gryffindor Tower. As we passed the remaining part of the swamp that had not yet been cleared away, I caught Professor McGonagall watching me. She was smiling slightly. SMILING!

We reached Gryffindor Tower and I brought her to her dormitory. Her roommates immediately began fussing over her and I smiled because they reminded me of Mary, Marlene, Alice and I. I conjured them all hot chocolate before returning to the common room.

In the common room I was met by four beaming boys. These grins were only met by the sour expression that radiated from me. My very body seemed to crackle with rage and I doubted whether I had ever felt this angry and ashamed in my entire life. I shouldn't have felt so livid but bloody hell, I did.

'A perfect prank wouldn't you say Evans?'

'Lily, did you see the swamp? It was AWESOME!'

'Lily, my spell worked better than I thought!'

'Lily, McGonagall took 30 minutes to put everything back to normal!'

'It was so funny!' they chorused.

I raised an eyebrow and folded my arms. If I could have scowled any more in that moment I did.

'Perfect was it? Awesome swamp was it? Spell worked better did it? Took 30 minutes to be back to normal did it?' Their smiles faltered a little. 'Funny was it? Oh absolutely hilarious! Waterslide fine but your swamp was one step to far!'

'Evans, it was a great prank!'

'Great was it? Great was it that someone had a panic attack? Great that they were surrounded by a metre deep swamp? Great that they were crying their eyes out?'

'Lily, we-'

'Save it Remus! And you know what the worst thing is?' I glowered at them and the 4 of them cowered in front of me. 'I AS GOOD AS SAID IT WAS OKAY TO DO CAST THE SWAMP!' I screamed at them. They all looked at me fearfully and I too was scared of myself for a second. I had never shouted at anyone before.

'Lily, its not-'

'Shut up Sirius! Now if you'll excuse me I've got somewhere to be away from you and your stupid selves.' I pushed past them and made my way towards the portrait hole.

'Relax, Evans forgives everyone.' I heard come out of Potters mouth.

'Oh shut up Prongs.' came Sirius' slightly ashamed voice. 'I'm going to bed.' And by the sound of things Remus and Peter followed him.

I myself had a meeting with Professor Dumbledore and so I stormed off through the corridors of Hogwarts to the Headmaster's office.

'Ah, Miss Evans, are you ready?' Professor Dumbledore asked kindly.

'Yes sir.'

'Very well, take my arm.' He offered his arm which I took confusedly. 'We are apparating to St Mungos.'

'But, you can't do that Professor. It says in Hogwarts: A History that-'

'There are perks to being Headmaster.' And with that we disapparated. It felt as though I was being forced through a straw whilst at the same time trying to expand beyond twice my size. Just as suddenly as we left we arrived in St Mungos.

We had appeared in a large ward where there were about 12 beds. All the beds' occupants were lying with blank staring eyes on their respective beds. All by the looks of things were still alive but very very weak. I walked from bed to bed trying in vain to see if my parents were among them. Suddenly, I saw a familiar mass of black limp hair.

'Eileen?'

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry again about the Quidditch match and an added sorry about the Marauder pranks.**

 **Please review :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **A/N: This chapter is hopefully good. It will be picking up right where last chapter left off.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

'Eileen?' I said. She turned her head and laid her slightly unfocused eyes on me. Her face was deathly pale and one of her cheeks had a deep gash in it. Inside the gash sat a green paste which was supposedly healing the wound.

'Lily?' Her voice was weak and croaky; it sounded as though it was a great effort for her to keep talking. 'Wh-what are you doing here?'

'They wanted people to identify the injured or d-dead. H-have you seen my p-p-parents? I began to stammer. Being in a room with people who were all seriously injured had made it hit home of what state my parents could be in. Tuney lived in London so she'd be fine but mum never left her bed unless she used the bathroom. There was a chance dad wouldn't have been at home so there was a possibility he would have been away from the attacks.

'I saw them bring your mother in but I haven't seen your father…' I turned frantically to Professor Dumbledore.

'We have to find her!' I began to hurry desperately along the next set of beds. Mum wasn't in any of them although I recognised my neighbours. I saw Mrs J complaining to one of the healers about her food, Maggie lay holding hands with Jeff who was in the bed next to her and their children lay in the beds along from them; all the kids slept peaceably despite the trauma which had put them here. Still no sign of my mum. Professor Dumbledore and I had reached the end of the ward and my mum hadn't been in any of the beds. I described her to him but I was distracted by my searching.

'Stay here, Miss Evans. I'll go and ask the healer.' Professor Dumbledore left me staring around the ward in some sort of crazy desperation to find my mum. Where was she? Eileen had seen her brought in but she was nowhere in the ward now. And what about dad? As far as I knew, no one had seen him. Oh, why did everything have to start going so bloody shit? Mum, dad? Where were you?

Involuntary tears began forming in my eyes just as Professor Dumbledore appeared again in front of me followed by a healer; both wore extremely grave expressions. They beckoned me to follow them and the three of us walked through a door right at the end of the ward an into another. This ward had a very sombre air about it. Here the room had darkened lights and the healers wore a black band around one of their arms. I knew what that meant.

'No, no, no, no! Mum!' I rushed along the beds looking for my mum. She was not dead. She could not be dead. It was simply impossible. But God had other ideas. I saw her deep red hair before I even reached the row of beds she was on. My legs sprinted towards her and my eyes fell on her serene figure.

She lay with her eyes closed and hands folded neatly over the covers as though in prayer. She had no visible injuries and she looked as perfect as she ever did. Her hair was spread like a crown of fire across the pillow beneath her head. No breaths escaped her and she lay in the hospital bed at peace with the world. She was beautiful. Tears rolled freely down my face as I looked at the body of my mum before me. I wondered if she knew that she was dead. She looked so content. Perhaps she had passed on willingly. Mum was like that; always ready for whatever came next and always accepting. I had never known her to be surprised.

The tears continued to fall thick and fast. Professor Dumbledore came up to me and this time behind him was a middle-aged man who wore a serious expression but I could tell that his face normally looked quite jubilant. The sober expression looked so unnatural on him it was slightly alarming.

'Miss Evans, this is the Minister for Magic Alexander Michaels.'

'Miss Evans, we at the Ministry are most grateful for your willingness to participate in identifying victims. It is a great comfort to their families.'

'I-I-I-I'm g-glad t-t-t-to offer some c-c-comfort.' I stammered my response and Michaels looked as though he had only just noticed I was crying. Oh, the joys of silent tears. 'My dad, d-do y-y-you k-know if a m-man with b-bright g-g-g-green eyes a-and b-b-blonde h-hair was b-b-brought in?'

'I'll ask the healers for you.' Professor Dumbledore said kindly. 'Meanwhile you could help naming victims.'

* * *

Mum's funeral was a small affair. The majority of people who would have been at the funeral where still in St Mungos so the only attendees were Tuney, Vernon, dad and I. She was buried alongside my dad's brother and his parents. My uncle had been killed in the second world and my grandparents had died of TB. I never met any of the them. Here Mum was buried beneath the soil and it dawned on me then as I laid a white lily on top of the freshly heaped earth that I would never see her again.

Tuney pulled me aside as the four of us trooped back to the house. She looked coldly upon me down her nose and I looked back at her with my tear stained face. Her eyes didn't soften even the slightest.

'You know it's your fault Mother's dead.' She snarled. My eyes began to fill with new tears. 'If you weren't a freak then the freak world wouldn't have come and killed her.'

'Tuney, I-I-I'

'No you little brat! Everything's you're fault and if you didn't exist none of this would have happened. Mother's will is being announced in 30 days. You'll be at your freak school so you won't be there but I will. I wish you didn't exist because then I would be getting more of Mother's things!'

I stared at her aghast as she stalked off to walk with Vernon. Dad hung back to wait for me and the two of us walked back to the flat in silence. Dad blamed himself for not being there and I was worried about him and what his grief would do to him. We reached the house and walked up the stairs to the flat. According to dad, the Ministry wizards who had arrived on the scene rebuilt all the destroyed houses in about two seconds with their wands. The pair of us took our coats off and stepped into the hall with the threadbare rug. Tuney and Vernon were talking in low voices in the living room.

'Tea?' I asked. Dad nodded and headed resignedly into the living room whilst I went into the kitchen. The faded mustard yellow kitchen cupboards looked far too cheerful and I scowled at it. Placing the kettle on the hob, I began pouring water into it and turned on the heat. As I waited for the kettle to boil I fiddled with my necklace. The cross was incredibly tarnished now but it was what it symbolised that mattered and not its appearance despite what my stupid brain thought.

I carried three cups of tea on a tray into the living room and handed them out. Tuney looked at hers as though I had given her a cup full of poison so I turned away in order to avoid seeing her disgusted expression. Vernon slurped noisily at his tea and Tuney drummed her perfectly manicured nails on her tea cup. Suddenly, I didn't feel like being in any company anymore and left for my room. I closed the door behind me and sank to the floor. I sighed. Only 12 hours until Professor Dumbledore came to bring me back to Hogwarts.

* * *

Hogwarts at 10pm at night was ghostly quiet but that was how I wanted it. The portraits slept as did the students and teachers. No-one was about and up on the Astronomy tower there was a light breeze. My vantage point of the grounds gave me a little comfort in a world which felt like it was crumbling. Mum was gone.

Sirius, Remus and Peter had avoided me since the aftermath of the swamp prank, Mary had recently been spending most of her time with her boyfriend and Marlene and Alice had been getting to know their new male friends from the Gryffindor victory party. Solitude was something I had been craving but at the same time, I hadn't seen my friends in days. I was so lonely but at least I could think of my mum in peace. Though there were times when I needed a distraction. There were times when school work didn't make me forget for long enough. There were times when grief consumed me into a kind of all-consuming darkness.

'Evans?' a voice asked behind me. It was Potter but for once his voice wasn't laced with a smug undertone; he only sounded surprised. Luckily for me, my back was to him so I could discreetly vanish the tears sitting on my cheeks with my wand as well as reduce the red puffy quality that my eye had undoubtedly had. I had learnt these handy spells in a book owned by Mary titled '101 Spells Every Teenage Witch Should Know'. The book itself was a lurid pink colour and the title was in sparkly silver lettering but nevertheless I had read the book. I was bored okay!

This disgusting piece of non-fiction actually had a sequel called '101 Situations And Solutions For Teenage Witches' (also owned by Mary). Basically, it was putting all the spells learnt in the first book into some absolutely ridiculous situations that I as a teenage witch myself was supposed to relate to. The particular situation that used the two spells I had just used was written in a simpering tone: _You just told your crush that you like them but they told you they just want to be friends. You excuse yourself and go cry by yourself. A few minutes later they find you but how can you hide your sadness?_

Seriously? Who came up with that? However, I had to admit the spells were surprisingly useful at times.

'Potter, what are you doing here?' I asked him turning around. I wasn't cross that he had found me and simply sat on the floor, leaning against the astronomy tower wall as I did so.

'Couldn't sleep.'

'Ahh.' I patted the space next to me. He looked a little surprised but joined me all the same. 'So was it just one of those nights where sleep is a distant memory or was it nightmare?' Potter shrugged in a noncommittal way but I saw through it right away. 'Right. Nightmare, wasn't it?'

'How do you do that Evans? It's like you read my mind.' I smiled into my hands. Memories of Sev and I practicing legilimency and occlumency in our spot by the lake during 4th year.

'Something like that.'

'You know when you say that I never know if that means your hiding something or if it means you literally have nothing else to say.' I chuckled in spite of myself.

'That's for you to decide.' He shook his head in exasperation. The pair of us were silent for a moment.

'Do you think dreams mean something?' It seemed as though he was extremely keen to hear my point of view. I pondered my answer.

'Dreams don't predict things unless you're a seer. They only show us the present and generally of things we aren't aware of. Our dreams link to our subconscious and sometimes are the only way we hear it. The subconscious is private and people can't work out its contents by your actions or reactions or words. The conscious on the other hand can be guessed and discovered. The subconscious is where we hide the feelings we don't know about, where we have thoughts we were unaware of and it's where our memories are too. No-one enters your subconscious without either legilimency or a magical bond with you.'

He watched me curiously as I spoke.

'Magical bond?'

'Yes. Some types of magical marriage ceremonies have a spell in them that bonds a couple so that they can feel each other's emotions. This spell has also a side effect which enables them to one another's subconscious in dreams. While one of them is asleep they may dream but this dream is actually a thought that sits in their significant other's subconscious. It also can happen through an unbreakable vow. If one of them is subconsciously think of the vow or something to do with it then the other may dream it as they sleep. The subconscious is fascinating.'

'I can tell. You obviously have looked into it thoroughly.' Once more I chuckled. It felt nice to laugh again although it felt a bit like my chest was pushing against a brick wall.

'I came across a book on the subconscious in the library. It's quite interesting so I've read it more than once.'

Potter snorted and I grinned.

'More than once. Evans, I think you've read that a few too many times.'

'You can't read a book too many times. It's impossible.'

'Impossible my arse. You're boring Evans and that's you're problem.' My content mood vanished instantly.

'Back to that nightmare of yours,' I began and Potter rolled his eyes at my change in topic, 'was it about people you know or was it full of random stuff?'

'Random stuff. Seriously Evans?'

'Well?'

He looked away from me and at his hands.

'People I know…' he said quietly.

'Oh you don't have to tell me who if you don't want to.'

'I think I'll pass.'

We sat next to each other in silent companionship and let the light November breeze tickle our faces. My brief escape from my situation was most definitely over.

* * *

Divination was one hour into the double period. Tom was on my right and laughing hysterically over a prediction Professor Conan had just made. Apparently, people born in April (Tom's birthday was in April) should be extremely careful during the next year when standing on tall buildings. Normally, Tom's laugh was the most infectious thing I had ever come across but today I could find it in myself to even smile. Last night I had smiled so easily but now my lips couldn't twitch upwards.

He clutched the table as tears of laughter rolled down his cheeks. His chuckling continued as he turned to me. Tom's eyes sparkled with mirth and it lit up his face. It reminded me of one time when I was 13 and I had been reading to mum.

 **21** **st** **August 1973**

It was a warm summers afternoon Not too hot and not too cold. Dad was downstairs in the bakery and mum was of course in bed. The south-side of the house was bathed in sunlight and up in my room in the flat it danced around my surroundings. I had just finished a letter to Remus and got up to look out of the window. The street too was covered in the gold cloak and the elder two of Maggie's boys were playing out on the cobbled road with some of the other children who lived on my road.

They all looked so happy as they all played 'it' **[A/N: Tag]**. Laughter echoed through the street and I smiled at how cheerful they all were. It had been a long time since I had played like that. I had grown up a lot faster than most kids, even faster than the kids in my area.

Sighing, I turned away from the window and left my room. Shutting the door behind me I moved down our faded corridor into my parent's room. Mum was sat up in bed reading but she looked up when I entered. Her smile was tired but content.

'Lily, can you come here?' she asked. I moved towards her. 'Do you think you could help me to the window. The sun looks so beautiful from here and I just wanted to feel some fresh air on my face.'

I nodded and helped her out of bed. She clutched my arm and the two of us hobbled towards the window. I opened the latch and the two of us leaned on the windowsill. The summer breeze ruffled mum's hair and she laughed. She looked so stunning as the sunlight danced on her face and so alive. Her usually sickly complex looked peachy and warm.

'Mum,' I breathed. 'You look beautiful.' She smiled at me but stayed silent. We stared out over the street barely hearing the playing children. She spoke suddenly.

'Promise me Lily that when you find someone who you tell everything to don't stop yourself falling in love with them.'

I looked at her completely bewildered.

'W-what do you mean?'

'We both hide things about ourselves but you'll find someone who you truly open up to. I found your dad and I've never told anyone else everything about myself. Maybe you've found them already but you just don't know it yet. Maybe it's because what you tell them is only little snippets so you don't really notice but you trust them. I'm not saying you don't trust your friends but you'll find that special someone who you can just spill to and not worry about how they react. When I told your dad about my parents he didn't judge me for hiding it. Your ones out there somewhere.'

'I-I'

'Lily never stop yourself falling in love with them. I won't be around forever to tell you that so I wanted to tell you now.'

'Mum don't say that!'

'I missed my chance with Pet. She grew up and so did you but you listen to me and she doesn't. She's ashamed of me.'

'No she isn't.'

'I sometimes wonder if she wouldn't be so ashamed if I was still a Lady.'

'Lady?' She smiled.

'Yes, I've only ever told your dad and his family that I was a Lady. Lady Cynthia Bowers of Seldeton.'

She chuckled at the surprise that was evident on my face.

'How come no-one recognises you?'

'Oh I disappeared years back. My family put it about that I was dead and anyway my name now is very different. Martha Lillian Evans hardly sounds the same. People round here have too much to worry about in their own lives to care about the Gentry.'

The sun tickled our cheeks and I was struck by how the sun made her face light up with delight.

 **Returning to November 1975**

Tom's lit up face reminded me of mum and I could feel tears forming. The fumes from the fire in the Divination classroom were not helping. I hastily raised my hand.

'Ah, Miss Evans.' said Professor Conan.

'Professor I need some fresh air. I think the fumes are getting to my head a little.'

'Of course you may Miss Evans. You have finished your dream diary after all.'

I rushed out of the classroom with a few quiet hisses of 'Lily!' sounding from Tom. Once I had ascended the ladder from the Divination classroom, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. A single tear rolled down my cheek. Control. I needed control.

I sank down to the floor and pulled my wand out from behind my ear. Focusing on a happy memory, I cast a patronus and I instantly felt more control over my emotions as the silver figure of Arnold walked in front of me chasing his tail. My chest seemed to loosen slightly.

'Oh Arl, what's wrong with me?'

'I could ask the same question.' I jumped and saw Remus standing in front me arms folded. Behind him stood Marlene, Mary, Alice, Peter, Sirius and for some reason Potter – all with folded arms as well and an expression that plainly said I wasn't getting out of this one.

'Shouldn't you still be in Divination?'

'Conan let us go early cause we felt our inner eyes were being clouded.' answered Marlene. Everyone chuckled and even I smiled slightly.

'But never mind that. What's up?' cut in Mary.

'Lily you need to tell us what's wrong. You can't hide everything.' added Alice.

'My mum died.' I said shortly.

'We're your mates. You can tell us – wait – what did you say?' Sirius began.

'My mum's dead.' I said again. The seven of them all stared at me. Alice, Mary and Marlene looked like they were evaluating me. Potter wore his unreadable expression mixed with - anger? Honestly that boy was confusing. Remus and Sirius wore shrewd expressions whilst Peter eyed me cautiously.

'Why didn't you tell us?' Alice asked softly.

'You all had other stuff to do. Alice you had that 6th year, Marlene you had that 7th year, Mary you had Andrew, you three,' I pointed at Remus, Sirius and Peter. 'were avoiding me like the plague and Potter I wouldn't tell you anyway.'

I got up and began heading to the Great Hall for lunch. I didn't feel like eating anything but went anyway.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Hope you liked it.**

 **Please Review :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **A/N: Hope you liked the last chapter and really hope you like this one too. Not sure where this one's going yet but we'll see.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The girls and I were at second breakfast. Remus sat slightly down the table frowning at a piece parchment the lay in front of him. Whatever was the issue he showed to Peter and Potter who were on either side of him. The three of them began pouring over the parchment. I watched the three of them for a moment before returning to my girlfriends' conversation.

'All I'm saying is that maybe you need to get over Longbottom.' Mary was saying.

'What do you mean? I am over him!' Alice spluttered turning red. She was met with three raised eyebrows. 'Well maybe not completely…'

'I'm thinking a new hair colour. What about blonde?' I suggested. Mary and Marlene nodded eagerly while Alice smiled slightly.

'Peroxide blonde!' Marlene almost shouted. Both Mary and Alice's eyes lit up. I groaned knowing what those expressions meant.

'MAKEOVERS!' The three of them shouted and I said the word too but not with nearly as much enthusiasm.

'Lily will you dye your hair too? I don't want to be the only one.' Alice asked a little anxiously.

'Yeah sur-' I was thinking of the dark brown hair I had had at the Masked Ball. Much less in your face and much less standing out in the crowd. Being more inconspicuous would be nice.

'No!' Mary cut in. 'Lily don't you dare do anything to that beautiful dark red! Alice, I'll dye mine. I really want to put some highlights in or something. What about ice blue highlights?' She held up a bunch of her pale blonde hair. I could have sworn Alice's expression looked a little disappointed but no one noticed and it was gone before I could be truly certain I'd seen it.

'Yesss! Can we put highlights in my hair? What goes with peroxide blonde?'

Luckily for me, the post owls arrived at that moment and spared me any more talk of makeovers. Three owls were carrying a huge black misshapen blob. On closer inspection, as the owls made a beeline for me, it was a binbag covering whatever was inside it – a precaution from the British weather. The owls placed the binbag in front of me and I hurried to fill a small bowl of cereal for them.

'Do you know who it's from?' asked Alice.

'No.' came my reply.

'Do you know what it is?' asked Mary.

'No.'

'Are you going to open it?' asked Marlene.

'No.'

I picked up my things and the binbag before making a hurried exit from the hall. Staggering slightly under the weight of the binbag mixed with my school bag I began heading back to the common room to dump off my mystery mail.

'Evans!' I jumped in surprise and promptly dropped all my things. The contents of the binbag spilled onto the floor. Out fell a large metal briefcase and a large hat box. The hat box too had opened and a load of light purple material had fallen on to the floor. I began scrambling around for my things. Evidently, Potter had followed me out of the Great Hall.

'I was going to ask what was in the binbag but I can see it all now.' Potter spotted something on the ground and stooped down to pick it up. 'What's this? A love note? Somehow I doubt that. I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one who could get past-.' He broke off reading the note he'd picked. His eyes began to flicker with anger.

'Get past what? My hair looking like a fire? My ugly face? The fact I've stepped inside a second-hand shop? My boring personality? Which one or is it all of them?' I asked calmly but there was venom in my voice as I struggled to remain civil and refrain from shouting at him. Potter smirked in a way that suggested his knowledge of what people thought of me was superior in every way. Anger still danced in his eyes for the briefest of moments but it vanished once he blinked. While he was distracted by his smirk, I grabbed the note and hurried off/

'Oi Evans! Go out with me next Hogsmeade weekend?' he shouted after me.

'No thank you, Potter.' I called over my shoulder and turned the corner as I reached the end of the Entrance Hall. Once out of sight, I put down my things and read the note in my hand to check it was actually for me.

 **A Note From Petunia Evans To Lily Evans**

Freak,

This is the dress and you'd better make it fit around your fat self. You may normally look like a tramp but at my wedding don't you dare. Remember any freak business and you're out of my wedding.

I crumpled the note in my hand and chucked it into the binbag. Upon reaching the dormitory I shoved the stuff underneath my bed hoping to bury my curiosity underneath my bed with the rest of my stuff that hid there (basically nothing).

* * *

History of Magic was a boring affair. I had bewitched my quill to copy down what Professor Binns was saying and this gave me time to daydream about studying with Tom. Tom loved history and in particular History of Magic. I too felt it was interesting but it was ruined for me by Binns who was exceptionally boring. Perhaps it was we were both muggleborns and therefore had a yearning to learn more about our new world. Although I generally studied with Remus, it was to Tom I now went for studying History of Magic. He had a way of going through our class notes and making every name, date or any other key detail stick in my brain. Re-enactments were commonplace; to do this Tom would first draw some stickmen on a piece of parchment. Then he would cast a spell that made them come off the parchment and act out whatever scene he was describing. Tom wanted to be a History of Magic Professor when he left Hogwarts and I could easily see that happening.

I fiddled absentmindedly with my necklace. He would be an amazing Professor. The necklace snapped and brought me out of my daydreaming about Tom. Wait. And brought me out of my daydream about studying. Well, that and the fact that SOMEONE KEPT POKING MY SHOULDER!

'Lily!' hissed Alice's voice in my ear.

'What?' I whispered back.

'He's staring at you again.'

'Who?'

'Who d'ya think?' she replied irritably. 'Potter.'

'He is?'

'Yes.'

'Why don't you just ignore him?'

'It's really annoying me.'

'Can't you just tell him to stop if it's bothering you?'

'No. He's looking at you and not me.'

'Well then, just ignore him.'

'Liiiiily.' She whined. 'Tell him to stop.'

'Why don't you? You're the one with an issue with him staring.'

'So you like him staring?'

'No but I don't squirm around on my seat because Potter's looking at the side of the room I on.'

'Make him stop. Pleeeeeeeeeeese. It always makes me feel like I'm ruining the moment between you two.' I looked at her incredulously.

'Fine!' I whispered waspishly. 'If you'll shut up, I'll stop him.' Alice looked at me smugly. Picking my wand up from my desk I placed it on my lap and turned it discreetly to face Potter. Focusing carefully on a few well chosen words, I cast two spells without anyone noticing. A 'What the fuck?' was heard all around the classroom by everyone except Professor Binns who continued his lecture. Potter looked sheepishly at his desk.

I took an internal bow for the spells I had cast. Potter had just experienced an unknown force (well known if you were me) push his head so that it faced the front whilst at the same time hearing Professor McGonagall say: 'It's high time you concentrated on your studies Potter'.

I really hung out with Remus and Sirius too much. Actually, scratch that. I hung out with Remus and Sirius a lot but NOT too much. I brought my attention to Binns and remained in my listening to the teacher zone for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

Lunch in the Great Hall was extremely loud. The Marauders had let of some indoor fireworks and they were whizzing around for the whole duration of Hogwarts eating. I ate my soup quietly and stared at the broken necklace in my hand. I had worn it since the age of 5 but it had actually been given to me the day I was born. Now it was simply wrecked and despite all the fixing spells I tried on it, it remained that way. Giving up, I placed it into my robe pocket.

I turned my attention to Remus. He smiled at me from over the book he was reading. I was about to say something when a bunch of Hufflepuff girls walked passed. Bertha Jorkins was among them and said quite loudly:

'OMG! Sirius Black is such a sex god!'

Remus met my eyes and we both began sniggering. The girls continued on their way and once they were gone our sniggering turned into full on howls. Our mates looked at us as though we had mad cow disease.

'Is-isn't S-S-Sirius a v-virgin?' I gasped through my laughter. Remus could only nod as tears of mirth rolled down his face. When Sirius said he got lucky he meant he'd got with a girl but never as far as sex. Honestly, some girls at Hogwarts were extremely dumb. As we began clutching our sides, Sirius sat down next to me.

'The sex god has arrived.' I said smirking.

Potter spat out his pumpkin juice.

'Where'd you hear that?' Sirius asked seriously but there was amusement sparkling in his eyes.

'Honey, who said I heard anything?' I said flirtatiously. His eyes glanced at Potter and an evil smirk appeared on his face. He yawned pointedly and stretched his arms before looping one of them around my shoulder.

'But seriously, who told you that?' he whispered in my ear. Potter was turning red. Peter who had cottoned on was having an extremely prolonged _coughing fit_. Remus had hidden his face behind his book but I could see his shoulders shaking with laughter.

'Bertha Jorkins.' I whispered back. He guffawed from next to me.

'Prongs calm your tits.' He chortled as he looked at Potter's murderous expression. Why Potter looked so pissed I had no idea. Probably just pissed we were laughing at him.

* * *

The girls and I sat on our respective beds. Mary and Marlene were discussing the 7th year who Marlene was seeing. I wasn't really sure what their relationship was but they did act like a couple around each other. His name was Patrick Harris and he was in Gryffindor. Personality wise I had no idea seeing as I'd never spoken to him but he was good-looking.

'Alice, do you want me to dye your hair or are you doing it yourself?' Marlene asked and again I saw Alice looked a little disappointed. She glanced at me.

'Marls, I'll do Alice's hair. You'd better do Mary's cause I'm not as good.' I said watching Alice closely. Her face relaxed slightly. 'Come on Al, we'll use the bathroom.' Alice followed me and I shut the door behind us.

'Thanks Lily.' She said.

'Right, what's up?'

'I wanted your advice. Marlene and Mary just tell me not to cry about him because he's not worth it but I can't stop feeling like shit. Maybe they get over boys easily but I can't'

There were tears in her eyes as she said this.

'Listen Alice, it's okay to feel horrible. Marls and Mary are just trying to help but they're not the same as you. It's hard to get over someone you thought so highly of. It's even harder to realise that they weren't who you thought they were but someone much worse. They earned your trust and respect but lost it in a second without a single thought about you. It's hard to admit to yourself that someone if cruel or careless or mean but you can't just ignore the hurt they've caused. You've got to accept it. If you cry, then that's fine because you're admitting to yourself that it hurts. And every day that you understand your pain it gets a little less horrible so that one day you'll wake and realise you don't care about that person anymore.'

Alice cried silently as I began dying her hair. I worked in silence as she cried but when she had stopped I began speaking again.

'You've got to embrace the things about yourself that they were to stupid to see. Live life to the full and all that. Have fun but if you want to cry you shouldn't feel ashamed. Once we've done your hair the four of us can dress up and dance in the dorm. I'm pretty sure Marlene has a wizarding wireless.'

* * *

Later that night, when the Girls were asleep and their snuffling snores could be heard through the hangings of my four-poster bed, I lay thinking. The thought had been nagging me for a while but I had chosen to ignore it. Why had Longbottom done what he'd done? I had known him for 4 years and never once had he done anything malicious. Why now? And why to Alice? She'd never been a source of hurt for him and the same vice versa but something must have happened that I was unaware of. A piece of the story had to be missing whether on purpose or not. The situation didn't add up. What was I missing?

This whole problem was killing Alice on the inside and the issue was deeper than a disappointed crush. A rejection from a crush hurt but if the rejecter was a crush then it wouldn't make you still want to cry a month and a bit later. That kind of wound healed easily but this gash wasn't even close. Alice couldn't have been...? No she was too young for that. It was impossible. Or was it?

'Oh Frank Longbottom, what have you done?' I whispered into the darkness.

I shut my eyes and forced myself to imagine the scene of the Masked Ball from what Alice had described. I saw the Great Hall just as it had been on the night of Halloween. I saw the dancefloor in the centre of the hall and I saw Alice and Longbottom dancing together. They danced to a slow song by the Golden Snidgets and revolved on the spot, never once taking their eyes off the other's face. My imagination moved closer to them and the rest of the Great Hall was blurred out. The song ended and I could see Alice screwing up her courage to kiss Longbottom. In my mind, I saw him lean his head down towards hers as she leant up to kiss him. I knew he had returned her kiss willingly and that they had only broken apart for air. That happened next and after that I imagined where it went wrong. I heard Longbottom say 'We're great friends Alice and I would never want to ruin that. We've always been mates...' but unlike when I'd Alice describe the scene, Longbottom sounded like he still had loads more to say. I saw Alice slap him and it was then that my mind could imagine no more. I groaned in frustration but after a few more attempts rendering the same results I gave up.

I tried falling asleep but gave that up too after 10 minutes of moving around restlessly. My bare feet slid off my bed, followed swiftly by the rest of my body. I walked silently over to the window and looked out over the Hogwarts grounds. They were bathed in moonlight from the waxing gibbous moon. The lake was still and reflected the shape of the moon perfectly. Nothing disturbed the grounds. I turned away and returned to my bed to get a glass from my bedside table. The glass I intended to fill with water seemed not to be on my bedside table but was on the floor. I knelt down to pick it up. Turning to my side, I saw the bin bag of stuff that I'd hidden underneath my bed earlier. Curiosity got the better of me and I pulled it towards me. First, I took out the hat box. Then I picked up my wand and said 'Lumos' in order to have a better source of light than the moon. Inside was a beautiful bridesmaid dress. It was knee length and lilac in colour. The bodice had a white lace which sat on top of the strapless lilac top half. The lace melted off into the lilac skirt. The bottom half looked like the kind of skirt that swirled stunningly when the person wearing it spun around. A top the skirt half of the dress was a thin lilac muslin and around the waist was a satin lilac ribbon that was tied in a small bow at the back.

'Wow, Tuney.' I breathed. I opened my draw and pulled out a strapless bra which I put on underneath my vest top/pyjama top. Then I removed my vest top/pyjama top and slipped on the dress over my bra and pyjama shorts. Like a ghost I moved towards the wall length mirror that stood next to my wardrobe. I didn't look awful in it. In fact, it made me feel pretty which was a very rare occurrence. Truth be told, the dress was a little big but that could easily be fixed. Perhaps Tuney didn't hate me after all.

I returned to the hat box and changed back to how I was dressed before. I looked back at the box and noticed a pair of shoes. They were white satin pumps that seemed to sparkle slightly in the wand light. These pumps where the correct shoe size and I returned them carefully to the hat box. The hat box I then place in my wardrobe and turned back to my bed. Thinking I would throw away the bin bag before heading to bed, I picked it up and realised straight away that there was something else in the bin bag. I pulled out a large and heavy metal briefcase which I had completely forgotten about. The briefcase I placed on my bed and then sat opposite it. I watched it suspiciously for a moment before clicking the lid open.

Revealed was two velvet boxed, a brown paper package and an envelope. I picked up the envelope and prised apart the flap to get at the letter inside it. I pulled out the letter and adjusted the angle of my wand so that I could read it better.

 **A Letter From Martha Evans to Lily Evans**

 _Dearest Lily,_

 _I suppose that if your reading this then I died before seeing you again. I have a few things I want to tell you before you see the rest of this briefcase's contents and a few requests to make of you. I hope you read the whole of this._

 _Firstly, I want to tell you about my being Lady Cynthia Bowers of Seldeton. I told you who I really was but you being you never asked me any further then that. Your father is just the same in that sense. When I was around 16 years old my parents chose a husband for me. I never got on with my parents because they were so stuck in the old ways of how things were and when I said I disliked the man they chose they didn't listen. This man was around sixty years old and I positively hated him. This led to possibly one of the best decisions of my life and that decision was to run away. I simply got on a train one night and left. My destination was anywhere away from home and the train took me to Cokesworth. I arrived there with all of my possessions in my suitcase and went to the nearest pub to find a place to stay. On my way there, I met your dad on his way home. He was quite a dashing 16-year-old. I asked him for directions and when he found out I had no place to stay he insisted I stay at his home. I followed him which in most circumstances is not the wisest thing to do and I met your grandparents. They too were so kind to me and they let me sleep in the living room. The next day, they offered me work at their bakery and I accepted. I lived with the Evans and there I fell in love with your dad. We married when we were 20 and your grandma died soon after that. I then had Pet 5 years later and a few months after your granddad died. And then you came 3 years after that._

 _Your dad's parents were some of the nicest people I ever met and I know they would have loved to meet both you and Pet. From what I know, my parents are still alive and Lily I have a favour to ask of you. I can't go and see them but perhaps you can. When you go home for Christmas could you try and find them? Could you tell them I'm actually dead this time and that I'm sorry I never saw them before I died. We may not have ever seen eye to eye but I want them to know. I was their daughter and in my heart I hope that they do care a little for what happened to me. They'll still live in Seldeton and if they've passed away then my younger brother will live in the big house there._

 _Next I want to tell you about the larger of the velvet boxes. When I ran away from home I took with me all of my possessions. These included all of my jewellery. My original plan was to sell them to keep myself going but I got the job at the bakery so that plan never came true. Your father knows of this jewellery and we decided to split it between you and Pet. Each of you would receive your share on your wedding day. I'm sorry I can't give it to you that way anymore so I put your it in the larger of the two velvet boxes. It's a while yet until you marry Lily but Pet's marrying so soon. That leads me on to my second request. Could you give Pet her jewellery on her wedding day? I would ask the same of her for your wedding but as your only 15 I don't think it would be fair to hide you from it for so long and ask this request. Pet's jewellery is at home with your father but I want you to be the one to give it to her from me. She knows I have a wedding gift for her but that's all. Please do this for me Lily._

 _I also wish to write about Eileen. The two of us met when I was pregnant with you and she with Severus. I remember when you were born we hoped that our babies would become great friends. And so you did. Lily, I told you before that you would find someone who you would open up to and for a while I thought you had found that person in Severus. Eileen thought so too but when you went to Hogwarts and came back that Christmas I think we realised otherwise. The two of you were changing and I remember Eileen saying it was a shame because she would have loved you for a daughter-in-law. She cares about you a lot and if you should ever need another mother figure she will be more than willing. Eileen has been my best friend through everything since I gave birth to you and I have my next request of you. Can you give Eileen the package? It's a photo of the two of us as new mums. The photo-frame has a bracelet attached to it. This bracelet is one of two. They connected so that we could send small messages to one another using the large luck clover charm on it. I think it's one of the last pieces of magic she ever performed. We were such a giggly pair of best friends back then. Eileen still used magic secretly back then but Tobias found out one day and that's when he began behaving more violently towards her. I knew Eileen was a witch and when I found out you were one I was so happy. The package will hopefully be a small comfort to her._

 _The last thing I wanted to say is I love you so much. I love your dad and I love Pet too. But this is my letter to you and not to your dad or your sister. Lily you are so brave and as I write this I can see your face in front of me in my mind. You put on a brave face and act as though you aren't tired, as though you don't mind working so hard and as though there's nothing wrong but I know that that expression is a face you hide behind a lot. You can show weakness Lily and no-one will ever think any less of you. You act so much older that you should have to and I know you're most likely the mum of your group of friends. Lily make sure that you're looked after too because you look after everyone else but who's making sure you're alright. You're friends care about you but their concern isn't quite what I mean. My last request is that you realise how amazing you are and I hope you find someone who looks after you as much as you look after them._

 _Take care Lily and remember that I'm always there in your heart._

 _With all of my love,_

 _Mum_

Tears rolled down my face as I finished the lesson. Tuney's words rang in my head 'Mum's will is being announced in 30 days...'. It had been 30 days since Mum's funeral and I suddenly felt just as I had the day I saw her dead in St Mungos. My fingers trembled slightly as I opened the larger of the two velvet boxes. I had to quickly stifle a gasp which escaped me as the wand light revealed its contents. Inside was like a treasure chest. There were two gold bracelets that looked like branches curved into a loop, a headpiece that also looked like a branch but this time with leaves made of small emeralds, a pair of earrings with a clear crystal in each, a choker made of silver which entwined to form the complete shape and at the front was a dark blue sapphire, a silver necklace with a pendant of silver entwined metal that had diamonds engraved into it a pale blue sapphire at the centre, a gold ring with a complicated pattern and an emerald gem engraved in it, a silver ring with a silver cherry blossom on it and finally a pair of rose-gold earrings that were a blush pink gem in the centre and surrounded by small diamonds.

I closed the first velvet box carefully and opened the second, smaller one. Its contents was something that my tears return. Inside was my mum's cross necklace. It was a silver chain and attached to it was a cross that was engraved with diamonds and wrapped around the centre was a silver infinity symbol. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Carefully, I removed the necklace from the box and placed it around my neck. I moved the metal briefcase and it's contents into my wardrobe and lay back down on my bed. I tugged my plait as my mind flicked feverishly from the briefcase to my mum's letter to the bridesmaids dress and to Alice and Longbottom.

'Mum, I wish you were here.' I whispered as my thoughts pounced on the Alice situation. Something was missing and I needed to get all the pieces to fix the problem. I needed to make Alice feel better and I was sure that I could fix everything for her and Longbottom. It couldn't hurt to do some poking around could it?

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. I quite like this one but last chapter was definitely my favourite so far. Next chapter will probably have more on the full moon and the Frank/Alice situation.**

 **Btw nothing could go wrong with Lily talking to her girlfriends' enemy could it? Might have Tom in the next chapter and maybe Snape. We shall see.**

 **Please Review :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **A/N: This chapter's going to have a bit of Tom/Lily stuff in but not loads. More on the Alice/Frank situation and a bit of full moon stuff.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The bell to signal break rang throughout the castle and I sighed in relief as I put down my trowel that I had been using to replant flutterby bush seedlings. Herbology had been rather a fun lesson despite Potter trying to bewitch the seedlings to arrange themselves in my hair. He had failed quite spectacularly and somehow ended up setting fire to his hair. Professor Sprout had sent him off to the hospital wing accompanied by Sirius who was howling with laughter. As Potter walked passed my table to the door of the greenhouse, Marlene shouted 'Best stick to transfiguration Potter and leave charms to Lily!' It had been really funny but I didn't laugh as I felt slightly sorry for Potter as he passed me with his hair all burnt. Me feeling sorry for Potter? What had the world come to? I think he noticed I wasn't laughing because his expression did that unreadable thing again.

I needed to speak with Longbottom about the events of the Masked Ball and I needed to do so away from Alice, Marlene and Mary. The Girls all had places to be meaning they dashed off at the end of herbology. I pretended to be searching through my bag for something so that Longbottom would pass me and I could then catch him up. Remus and Peter wandered past asking if they should wait for me but I shrugged them off saying that I would be a while. The left and about 10 seconds later they were followed by Longbottom, Ben and Kieran. I waited another few seconds before also leaving the greenhouse.

The three boys were having a kind of three-way wrestle. Boys. I walked over to where they stood and tapped Longbottom on the shoulder. He broke away from the fight and looked at me in surprise. His exit from the struggle seemed to alert the other two of my presence. Ben and Kieran stopped abruptly and straightened their clothes. I raised my eyebrow at the three boys.

'Err, hey Lily.' Ben said a little awkwardly. Kieran looked at me with mixture of embarrassment and suspicion. I didn't blame him seeing as I had been ignoring one of his best mates since the start of November. Him being embarrassed was most likely due to my raised eyebrow.

'Hi. I hate to break up this…fight? But I need a word with Longbottom in private.' I said and this time they were the ones who raised their eyebrow at me.

'And why should I talk with you anywhere? You've been ignoring me since after Halloween.' Longbottom asked sceptically.

'Because,' I began slowly but I was interrupted by Ben.

'She felt guilty and wants to put things right.' He said with an air that said he felt he had figured me out.

'Almost. I need to talk to you about Alice.'

'What about Alice?' Kieran asked, his tone suggesting he thought everything I said was a lie. Longbottom simply stood silently but I could tell he was interested. 'Finally feeling sorry for slapping my mate?'

'What Alice feels about slapping Longbottom is irrelevant. I need to ask Longbottom a question and that is all. Alice has no idea that this conversation is even taking place.'

'Fine. Lily I'll go with you.' Longbottom said. The two of us left Ben and Kieran and walked into the grounds. We stopped and I turned to him.

'What happened at the Masked Ball between you and Alice?' My question startled him.

'What?'

'I believe you heard me.'

He ran his hand nervously through his hair.

'Well, we were having loads of fun dancing and stuff so when the music stopped we were in a really good mood. Then we kissed.' He looked me in the eye. 'I'm sure you knew that already.' I didn't say anything so he continued. 'When we broke apart I started this whole speech where I was going to tell her about how long I'd wanted to kiss her but-I-I'

'Started it wrong.' I finished for him. The whole situation made more sense now I'd heard Frank's side of things. We were both silent for a moment. 'I need to fix this.'

'You? But I was the one who…'

'No. I heard Alice's side of the story and assumed there was nothing else to it. I encouraged her to ignore you. It's my fault it got this bad.'

'That's not true Lily and you know it. Marlene was the one who told her to ignore me and you just went along with it. I'm the one who needs to sort it out.'

'Agree to disagree?' He rolled his eyes but nodded all the same. 'I'll help you but it will need to wait for a bit. She needs to heal first. If you tell her everything now she'll forgive you but you'll both be leaping with your eyes shut and it won't work out. You need to rebuild your relationship slowly.'

'Thanks Lily!'

'It's okay.' We headed back inside and went our separate ways as the bell rang for the end of break. 'Oh and Frank?' I said over my shoulder.

'Yes?'

'This conversation never happened.' He mimed sealing his lips. If the Girls saw me talking to Frank they would be extremely pissed off.

* * *

I sat in the library surrounded by a load of advanced charms books. I was trying to find a spell that I needed for a Christmas present for Remus but I was close to simply inventing a spell instead. Well, not simply as inventing spells was extremely difficult but I needed it or else his present wouldn't have any point to it. I was planning to charm a watch I had bought for him to show the current phase of the moon if you tapped the glass three times.

I gave up for the night and began packing up my things. With a flick of my wand the books returned to the correct shelves and I waved at Madame Pince the librarian on my way out. She smiled and waved back. Madame Pince was an extremely strict and uptight woman but she was really lovely to me and I think she was quite fond of me. I was a regular to the library and I was always happy to help clearing up the library at closing time. I reached the door to the corridor and opened it.

' Lily!' a voice called and I almost jumped out of my skin in shock. It was Tom and I turned to face him smiling. He grinned at me and I felt a light blush begin to spread across my cheeks.

'Hey Tom. Alright?' He shrugged nonchalantly.

'We haven't talked in ages.' He said with a cheeky smile playing about his lips. Truthfully, we had spoken last divination lesson a few days ago. 'I was beginning to wonder if I'd done something wrong.'

'Oh yes.' I said gravely. 'You did something awful. You breathed whilst sitting next to me.' He gave a theatrical gasp and I nodded sombrely. 'It's unacceptable.'

'Please forgive me Lily.' He said in mock desperation and cupped my hands in his own as we left the library. I turned my head away and raised in haughtily. At this he bent down on one knee whilst still holding my hand. 'My dearest Lily, I'm so glad to have _found_ you and you make me so very happy. Please could you forgive my mistake and _find_ it in your heart to get passed my horrible defect that requires me to breath. I am so lost without you and my _finding_ you gave my life the most joy it has ever seen. I fear that the world will darken my doorstep without you at my side and so I make this small request of you and I hope that you will accept.' He paused and waited for me to calm the laughter that had erupted out of me down. 'Will you, my dearest Lily, do me the honour of accompanying me to Hogsmeade as my date?'

I stared at him and felt my traitorous blush conquer the whole of my cheeks.

'Y-yes!' I stammered as my insides began dancing in delight. Tom's face lit up and he jumped to his feet.

'You've no idea how long I've wanted to ask you. I've wanted to ask since you said "No shit Sherlock" that one time in Divination.'

'I don't _find_ that very surprising at all.' We both lapsed into laughter and didn't stop until we reached the Fat Lady.

'Goodnight Lily. See you in Divination.' Tom did and exaggerated bow left for the Hufflepuff common room. I turned to the Fat Lady. She smirked at me and giggled.

'You've got a gentleman there dear.' The Fat Lady said and I smiled at her despite her girly reaction.

'Quintessence.' I said and she swung forward, still giggling. I entered the common room and looked around for my girlfriends. Marlene was cosied up with Patrick in a corner and she winked at me when she saw me looking. What had happened to Marlene's crush on Kieran I had no idea. I guessed that things hadn't worked so well after the Masked Ball but in truth I didn't know because Marlene and Kieran still laughed, worked and talked together. They acted like they had before the Ball so evidently nothing had actually happened between them or if it did it had been a mutual decision to stay as friends.

Alice was playing chess with Mary and chatting with her at the same. Andrew was also chatting with them and all three of them evidently found something hilarious as they began laughing hysterically. I smiled at them affectionately and decided my news could wait.

I knew Remus would already be in the hospital wing as the full moon would be appearing in just a few hours but where Sirius or Peter were, I had no idea. Probably eating in the kitchens, I thought fondly. I headed to bed having done my homework and guessed that I would have an early start seeing as it was the full moon meaning going to bed now would stop me from being as tired the next morning.

* * *

It was 6am in the morning and the full moon still hadn't gone away. I got up from my position in front of the common room fire and decided to get dressed. Silent as the grave, I got ready for lessons later that day and half an hour later I was in the Great Hall eating breakfast. The magical ceiling of the Great Hall gave me an excellent view of the moon which had sadly not gone away. Poor Remus, I thought, it was going to be a long transformation. The full moon also meant that the rest of the Marauders would be absent from lessons. I had three 'Wake me up' potions in my bag for when Sirius, Peter and Potter eventually showed up to lessons – if they did. I had no idea how long the full moon would stay in the sky and for the whole of that length of time Sirius, Peter and Potter would be with Remus. The teachers knew of course the reason for Remus' absence around the full moon but the other three had no excuse. The potions I carried in my bag I would usually slip to them during 'second breakfast' so that they wouldn't be suspiciously tired during lessons. However, this time they wouldn't even show up to lessons because the full moon was still up and I needed to come up with a cover story.

I had no idea what to use as a cover for their absence. They were all ill with flu? No. Even in my headed it sounded stupid. What then? Could I perhaps cast a confundus charm on the teachers? That would be my plan B. Usually, I was a strict rule abider but desperate times called for desperate measures. I was beginning to panic slightly as no other ideas came to mind. I couldn't confund the teachers! I was a prefect and that would go against my morals. But I had no other plan and I had to keep the absence of Sirius, Peter and Potter go as unnoticed as possible. They would get into so much trouble for skiving a whole day and then not even being able to say where they had been for the day of school they had missed. As though fate was mocking me, it gave me a small glimmer of hope; today was what I called Marauder Day. Basically, today was the day I had all the same classes as the Marauders.

Professor McGonagall walked passed. She looked at me as she walked towards the staff table. I smiled at her before quickly looking at my cereal. Guilt flooded into me and I hadn't even done anything yet. The shame of what I was going to do was already hovering above me. How on earth would I confund McGonagall? She was very intelligent and extremely observant. Most likely, she would notice me pointing my wand at her before I'd even started focusing my mind on the charm. Even if I did it non-verbally she'd probably notice in time to avoid the spell. I was doomed.

After finishing my breakfast, I headed back to Gryffindor Tower to collect my school bag and clean my teeth. Upon reaching my dormitory I opened the door to reveal Marlene and Mary dancing to the Golden Snidgets' newest release on Marlene's wizarding wireless. Alice was evidently in the bathroom.

'Babes, is it Transfiguration first?' Mary asked as I entered. I nodded in response but said nothing as I was sure that if I opened my mouth I'd be sick with nerves. She smiled at me and went back to dancing. Marlene thumped on the bathroom door.

'Al, hurry up!'

'Just a minute.' came the slightly muffled reply from Alice on the other side of the door. A few moments later Alice walked out and Marlene barrelled in which caused Mary to stop dancing and start laughing. Alice grinned but turned her attention to her make up. I fiddled with my mum's crucifix necklace as I waited for the bathroom to be free. Mary used it next but eventually I was my turn.

I walked in and shut the door. Picking up my tooth brush and tooth paste, I put the tooth paste on the brush and began cleaning my teeth. As I cleaned I began formulating how exactly I was going to confund my teachers. I spat out the minty foam and replaced my tooth brush to where I had picked it up. My eyes fell on my reflection. The girl in the mirror looked back at me with her dark but vivid green eyes. She seemed to be slightly anxious because her brow was furrowed. Her hand reached up and tugged at the simple plait which hung over her right shoulder. This girl was supposedly me but my reflection always felt like a bit of a stranger.

'Lily we're going down now. You coming?' Marlene called from the dormitory. I stepped out of the bathroom and grabbed my bag. The four of us headed down the stairs. As we reached the Great Hall I glanced at the ceiling and saw the moon was still sitting smugly in the sky. I was pretty sure the man on the moon was laughing at me and what I was going to do.

 **1** **st** ** & 2** **nd** **Period: Double Transfiguration 9.10 – 11.10**

The girls and I sat down in our normal seats (third row from the front). The other three giggled away happily as they pulled out their books, parchment, quills and wands but I sat tensely in my seat. I had tugged at least 10 times on my plait since 'second breakfast' and was about to do it again when Professor McGonagall walked in. I held my breath as she passed my seat and I could hear the pounding of my heart.

As she reached the front of the class she looked around shrewdly. Then, she pulled out her register and began calling out names. It was as though she was purposefully making the absence of the Marauders obvious. I pulled my wand out from behind my ear and placed in my hand that was hidden underneath the table. Unbeknownst to anyone, I pointed the wand at McGonagall. There was suddenly a loud bang noise and the whole class spun around. Tom who was sitting in his usual seat in the second back row had apparently just transfigured his best mate George Abbott into a racoon. McGonagall was distracted from here register as she began shouting at Tom for cleaning a wand that was pointed at someone. This was all I needed. I focused hard on what I wanted the confundus charm to do and sent it non-verbally at the back of her head. I was pretty certain I'd missed and I swore under my breath because of that but when she'd finished her scolding of Tom she returned to the front of the class and looked confusedly down at her register before discarding it and turning to teach us. I had definitely missed and yet… She lectured us for a while about transfiguring animals into homeware items and I took notes. Then she set us the task of turning a mouse into a goblet.

When we had all started on transfiguring our mice into goblets Tom came over to me under the pretence of needing help. He winked at me.

'Like my bit of transfiguration on old Georgie?' he asked grinning.

'It was very skilful.' I said smiling back.

'I see I was successful.'

'What d'you mean?'

'You looked so worried at the start of the lesson I thought I'd try and cheer you up a bit.' I looked him in the eyes for a moment before hugging him in front of everyone. I didn't care. Tom's timing (although unknown to him) had been impeccable and his motive behind the chaos made me feel so warm inside. Wow, that sounded soppy. My apologies. When I let go I was met by the beaming faces of Mary, Marlene and Alice but luckily, the rest of the class hadn't noticed and neither had Professor McGonagall. Tom winked at me once more before returning to his desk. The girls squealed in my direction.

Professor McGonagall walked around the class correcting the class on their transfiguration work. She reached my table.

'Miss Prewitt, the movement is a jab not a movement that replicates swatting a fly.' She said sternly. Her eyes moved from Alice's mouse, which had a cup stuck on its back, to my mouse which now looked like a silver goblet with some fancy engravings. Professor McGonagall's mouth twitched slightly at the corners.  
'You might want to try working on your aim, Miss Evans.' She said and I turned scarlet. She continued on her rounds and I shrank into my seat.

'I don't know why your so embarrassed. You've turned your mouse into a goblet.' Came Alice's disgruntled voice.

'You've no idea.' I muttered but luckily Alice didn't hear it.

 **Break 11.10 – 11.30**

I stood in a sheltered part of the courtyard with my girlfriends as we took cover from the winds that were pushing their way across the Hogwarts grounds. I had just told them about my upcoming date with Tom and they were teasing me about it. The full moon was still in the sky and in my pocket, I crossed my fingers that it would disappear soon. My first attempt had technically been unsuccessful despite McGonagall forgetting the register. I wasn't really sure what had happened there but perhaps there was someone else in on the Marauder secret who had confunded her for me.

The bell rang and the four of us made our way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest for Care of Magical Creatures. The wind was bitter and we all shivered whilst waiting for Professor Kettleburn. I was far too used to being cold to shiver due it and was shivering more out of panic for the prospect of trying to confund another teacher.

 **3** **rd** **Period: Care of Magical Creatures 11.30 – 12.30**

Professor Kettleburn stood at the front of the class and began telling us about the special qualities of bowchuckles. He was having to yell over the howling wind and normally I would be answering his questions but is was to intent on listening for his realisation that Sirius, Peter and Potter were missing. This realisation came when we had split into pairs and were sketching the bowchuckles. This was particularly hard due to the wind but I conjured up an invisible barrier around Alice and I to block the wind. It was a Kettleburn was making his rounds and looking at the sketches produced by his students that he noticed that 3 of them were missing but by some odd twist of fate he asked me where they were.

'Miss Evans, you wouldn't perhaps know where Mr Bl-' he broke of as I confunded him. He paused in his speech and his eyes went dreamy for a moment before focusing on me again. This went unnoticed by Alice as she was busy sketching. 'Where the bowchuckle carries its food?' he finished.

'In the crook of their longest finger. Fairy eggs stick to the hairs that are attached to the finger.'

'Very good. 20 points to Gryffindor Miss Evans.'

 **4** **th** **Period: Charms 12.30 – 13.30**

Professor Kettleburn had been late in dismissing us so the Girls and I hurried towards our charms classroom. We arrived only in the nick of time and collapsed into our seats still breathing heavily. Professor Flitwick came into the room and perched his tiny self on his usual pile of books. He whipped out his register and I groaned from my seat.

'I know right.' Alice whispered to my irritably. 'We're not first years anymore. He doesn't have to check we made it to the lesson. It's not like we get lost on the way to class is it?' I shook my head but stayed silent and kept my eyes glued to Flitwick. Some kind of distraction was what I needed. I looked around. Was there anything in this classroom I could use? Anything at all?

My eyes fell on the pile of books Flitwick stood on. Please forgive me Professor, I thought desperately. I also hoped this wouldn't damage the books too much because that would be something else added to my guilty conscience. Holding my wand beneath the desk, I pointed it at a large volume at the middle of the pile. Mobiliarbus, I thought and focused my energy on that spell. I had been doing non-verbal spells for a while but it was today I had seen how useful they really were. The book slid slowly out of the pile as I moved my wand to direct the path I wanted it to take. As the book left the pile the rest tumbled on to the floor and bringing poor Professor Flitwick with them. I confunded him in the chaos that ensued and with a flick of my wand ticked off all the names on the register – just in case the spell hadn't worked. After McGonagall I wasn't taking any chances.

Eventually, the class calmed down and we set about trying to turn our vinegar into wine. With a glance out of the window that revealed the full moon still to be present I focused on my charms work.

 **Lunch 13.30 – 14.10**

I ate silently as Alice, Mary and Marlene began discussing my date with Tom. They were extremely excited and so was I but I couldn't muster any enthusiasm due to the thoughts swimming in my brain. How in the name of Merlin did one confund a ghost? Was it even possible? No was the answer and I knew it.

I looked at the staff table and I saw Professor McGonagall watching me with a thoughtful expression. Instantly, my insides turned to lead. She had found me out and was going to expel me. I knew it. Oh, why hadn't I just come up with a plan A? Why brain? WHY?

 **5** **th** **Period: History of Magic 14.10 – 15.10**

When I sat down in History of Magic I wasn't sure if it was safe for me to remain in the classroom. I was almost certainly going to be sick. Professor Binns was a ghost and I had no idea how to stop him from noticing Sirius, Peter and Potter were missing. Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Alice was dozing next to me. Binns burst in through the blackboard and immediately began his lecture on Goblin rebellions. I bewitched my quill to take notes and continued to fret about my problem.

A few minutes later I suddenly remembered that Professor Binns never noticed anything. I remembered that he never noticed when Sirius and Potter would have a duel at the back of the classroom. He never noticed when Sirius and Potter had a wrestling match at the back of the classroom. And he never noticed when Sirius, Remus, Peter and Potter declared war on one another and threw stationary at each other at the back the back of the classroom.

Perhaps fate didn't hate me after all.

 **Free Time 15.10 - 17.30**

I sat in the library doing homework. The full moon had gone so I had originally been planning to go and see if the boys were alright. The common room was, however, packed and there was no way I could get up the boy's staircase unnoticed. Even a disolutionment charm wouldn't have been much help because people would have noticed me vanish and would therefore be able to pick up my outline. It was because of this that I decided to wait before checking up on them.

 **Dinner 17.30 – 20.00 (No one ate for that long but that was how long it was available)**

The full moon had obviously disappeared by the time the Girls and I sat down at for food. I ladled some soup into a bowl and continued working on my homework. The boys would most likely have come inside by now but they were also probably in their dormitory. I finished my homework and my soup quickly and headed to the kitchens.

The elves were scurrying about and I felt guilty for troubling them after they had already made dinner for the whole school. One elf hurried up to me.

'Anything I can get you, Miss?' the elf squeaked.

'Um… Perhaps you could make me three large portions of pancakes?' I asked timidly. 'If it's no trouble!' I added hurriedly. The elf curtsied and rushed off to return only return a few minutes later with three plates piled high with steaming pancakes. 'Thank you so much!'

'It is a pleasure, Miss.' The elf beamed at me. 'Just as for Hope Miss if you need anything from me.' I smiled at her, thanked her once more and left levitating the pancakes. I headed for the boy's dormitory and didn't knock when I reached it. I pushed the door open to reveal an awful mess. Peter sat on his bed dabbing at several cuts. Potter lay clutching at his head on his own bed and Sirius was sporting a blood soaked cloth that was tied around what I assumed was a wound. I put the pancakes on Remus' bed and rushed over to Sirius.

'Oh Sirius! What happened?' I pealed back his makeshift bandage and my eyes widened at the deep gash in his arm that ran from his wrist to his elbow. I glanced back at the other two. Peter's leg was lying limply on his bed and I guessed that it was broken. Broken bones could wait. My eyes moved to Potter and he was still clutching his head. By the looks of things, he had hit it on something.  
'On second thoughts, Sirius don't tell me. Potter you do it. What happened?'

'Why's Prongsie doing it?' came Sirius' slightly muffled voice.

'Because he may have concussion and I have to keep him talking. Potter, spill.' Potter looked at me with slightly unfocused eyes and I smiled at him encouragingly before turning back to Sirius' arm.

'It started off fine but as it got passed 10am Mooney got a bit restless and so we went for a wander round the Forbidden Forest. Then…well...he sort of stood on Wormtail's leg so it broke and I doubled back to help him move and left Padfoot with Mooney.' He paused. 'Mooney got a bit violent and he got Pads badly so I threw him off but in the force of him falling backwards I knocked my head on a tree trunk.'

I had finished healing Sirius' wound, had cleaned my hands and was now trying to feed him a blood replenishing potion.

'It's not infected as far as I can tell so you won't be turning into a werewolf Sirius. Potter put this ice on your head it will help.' I passed him a bag of ice which I had conjured alongside a plate of pancakes. 'Sirius, I'm going to put you on Remus' bed while I clean yours and Peter I'll fix that broken leg in a second. Potter, keep talking to me. What do you like so much about Quidditch?' I levitated Sirius onto Remus' bed and tucked him up before passing a plate of pancakes to Peter and putting the last one on the bedside table next to Sirius whilst Potter jabbered on about the supposed brilliance of Quidditch.

I began syphoning the blood off Sirius' bed sheets. A few moments later, it was clean and with a flick of my wand Peter's leg was fixed. With another wand movement, his cuts all vanished and I turned to Potter. He had not touched the pancakes yet but the ice had helped a little; his eyes were no longer unfocused.

'How d'you feel?' I asked softly. He shrugged in response. 'Pancakes?' I asked, spearing a piece on a conjured-up fork. He nodded and I handed him the fork. 'I've got you all the notes from today's lessons and the homework as well.' I said as I pulled out a load of parchment. 'Don't mention you weren't in the lessons and the teachers won't remember your absence.'

'Thanks Evans.'

'Yeah thanks Lily.' Sirius said from Remus' bed and Peter nodded in agreement.

'Right mister,' I said walking back towards Sirius. 'Time for you to go back to your own bed.' Once again I levitated him into s bed except this time it was his own. 'By the way, how did Peter break his leg by it being stood on? I know werewolves are big but not big enough to break an entire leg.'

'I don't know…' said Potter nonchalantly. We were all silent for a moment. 'How in the name of Merlin did you get the teachers to not realise we weren't there?'

'I don't know…' I answered with a mischievous grin. 'Well, so long boys. You be fine on your own now.' I left the dormitory and cast a disolutionment charm on myself so that no one would see me coming down the boy's staircase and get the wrong idea. During that time I heard Potter say

'Damn you Evans! Damn you and your secretive self!' whilst Sirius and Peter roared with laughter.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Please don't kill Tom because I rather like him. He's going to be around for a while and he's not falling out of this story any time soon. I'm looking forward to Christmas but the next few weeks are quite hectic for me. My chapters may be posted late and around Christmas Eve to New year there is unlikely to be new chapters posted. I'm really sorry.**

 **Please review :)**

 **Please review :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **A/N: It's time for the next chapter. Yay! I hope you liked last chapter. This chapter might not be very eventful but it will hopefully be good. The chapter after this may be set at Christmas but that depends on the content of this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

Dates. I could do dates. Yeah, I could do dates. I was a natural at dates. Yep. Definitely. In fact, you probably couldn't find someone who was more natural at dating. Nowhere. Dates… Dates. It would be fine. Nothing to worry about. Just a day with Tom. Just a whole day with Tom who I had quite the crush on. Everything would be great. Yes, yes, it would. Really?

No. Who was I kidding? I'd never been on a date in my life and now I was going on one with Tom. Mary, Marlene and Alice had laid out an outfit for me and then gone off to meet their dates; Mary was meeting Andrew, Marlene was going with Patrick and Alice was meeting the 6th year she'd danced with at the victory party. They all would have stayed but I had insisted that I would get ready alone. I was purely trying to avoid the whole pampering process that went into getting ready for a date. Now I was completely regretting my actions.

I pulled on the outfit, a dark green v-neck jumper with black skinny jeans, and moved towards a mirror. I began applying makeup in an attempt to fix my face. My plan worked fairly well as the dark red lipstick distracted from my facial features. I then placed a charm on it to stop it from coming off my lips and grabbed my coat. I hurried towards the Entrance Hall and spotted Tom. I waved and I walked over to him smiling. Behind him I saw Sirius and Remus who gave me subtle thumbs up as they left the Hall.

'You look great.' Tom breathed. I felt a pink tinge begin to spread across my cheeks.

'And the same to you Sir. Most handsome.' I answered grinning.

 **Sirius' POV:**

Remus and I exchanged a protective look as we watched the person we saw as our little but more mature sister head off on her date. We had already been rehearsing the big brother speech we would be relating to Tom when he and Lily returned. The two of them were quite cute together. Not that I've ever said the word cute before. I've also never said that I thought Tom and Lily were good couple. That thought would have been seen as traitorous by old Prongsie.

When Prongs first told me that he liked Lily I was over the moon. Sadly, for James, my brotherly instincts kicked in and I realised that I didn't want him dating my sister. James was a prick to Lily. He was too immature and he didn't respect her. As far as I was aware he had never had a conversation with Lily that hadn't involved him insulting her.

Prongs needed to grow up before he could date Lily but he had to realise that himself. Tom was just the kind of guy for Lily. Maybe I would be less supportive of him dating Lily when Prongs did become more mature but then again, Prongs might not even like Lily anymore when the time came.

We were all after all only 15 and it was a bit early to develop feelings for someone that were more than a crush. Well, you could argue that mentally we were different ages. Lily, for example, was definitely at adult maturity level. In fact, I was pretty sure she'd always been that mature. For as long as I'd known her anyway. Then again when it came to Lily I didn't really know as much about her as you would assume I would. Considering I viewed her as my sister I knew hardly anything about her. I knew stuff like she had a sister and when her birthday was but anything about herself in a deeper sense I had no clue about. Lily kept most personal things to herself and when you asked her something personal she had the inexplicable ability to change the conversation to something about yourself. It wouldn't be until you walked away 30 minutes later that you realised she had completely evaded the question.

That was how Lily was. If she didn't tell you something you wouldn't find it out. Prongs never seemed to grasp that fact the Lily was incredibly reserved. When spending some of his evenings talking about her he would often complain about how little she spoke about herself. I knew he'd confronted her a few times with the matter when trying to insult her and I had lost count of the times after the Lily/James arguments that I'd told Prongs to lay off her.

Tom didn't do that. He respected that Lily kept herself to herself quite a lot. If Prongs wanted to gain her affections he would have to do the same. It was quite likely by the time Prongs grew up he'd have found someone else. Although I didn't like the idea of Prongs dating Lily at this moment in time I still thought they would make a great couple in the future. I knew that even if both of them got married and started families with other individuals, a small – scratch that – actually quite a big part of my heart would still ship Lames (best ship name or what?).

 **Back to Lily's POV:**

Tom and I made our way towards Hogsmeade and as we walked we chatted about anything and everything. I found that there were no awkward silences and when Tom slid his hand into mine I didn't freeze up or anything else like that. I felt comfortable and I felt as though we did this every day. Holding hands seemed so natural and I squeezed his hand to show some affection. He grinned at me and we continued towards the village.

A little while later we reached Hogsmeade and our first stop was Zonko's joke shop. We manoeuvred around a pile of what looked like glass spinning tops; they were humming slightly. The two of us approached one of the back shelves. A large violet sign read 'Love Potions'.

'What?' Tom said aghast as he read the sign. He turned to me as I picked one up. 'Why in the name of Merlin are you considering one?'

'I'm not considering. I'm buying one.' I answered mischievously.

'Can I ask why?'

'Yes. How on earth did you think you came to asking me on a date? I slip some into your breakfast every morning.' I said matter-of-factly. Tom roared with laughter and I fell prey to how infectious it was as I tried to keep a straight face.

'You know I _find_ that hard to believe.' He chortled.

'Really? I don't _find_ it that hard at all.' I said seriously. 'It's quite a serious matter. I'm running rather low and I've still got a whole date left with you. What if it runs out half way through?' I asked in mock panic.

I replaced the potion and we continued to examine the interesting array of merchandise. Further along the shelf was a bottle of hair vanisher which I considered for a prank on Sirius but decided against it as an unnecessary expense. I did, however, find a box of wart cap powder for part of his Christmas present and to finish off Remus' I found a book titled 'How to out prank prankers' which I felt would be good for pranks pulled on his fellow Marauders. I knew the title of every single book Remus owned (having read them all) and therefore knew he didn't have it. This I would gift him alongside the watch I had for him.

We left Zonko's and headed for Honeydukes sweet shop. It was crowded with Hogwarts students and I had to doge several people to reach the chocolate section. Tom grinned at me in a way that told me he was right at home in this aisle. We set about looking for some chocolate accompaniment for presents we were gifting our friends. I still had to get Alice, Mary, Marlene, dad, Tom, Peter, Sev, Eileen, Tuney presents. Actually, I supposed I had to get something for Vernon too. For Vernon I settled on just confectionary but I made sure they had no magical elements in them.

Next up, in Gladrags Wizardwear, I found a match Hufflepuff set of hat and scarf which I would gift Tom. I also came across a navy jumper which had the words 'Kinda Care Kinda Don't' on the front for Marlene and for Mary a jumper with 'Beach Please' on it. I had planned to get Alice a jumper with something written on the front until I came across a book in the second-hand shop. It was almost brand new and had a picture of a buffet table of junk food on its cover. Its title was 'Why I like Junk Food' and was an extremely thick novel. According to the blurb it was a story about a girl getting over her long-time feelings the best friend of her brother. I had read the first few pages and it seemed a good read. It wasn't quite Alice's scenario but I thought it would help her overcome the Frank issue and they might become friends again. Peter's present was some chocolate as well as a recipe book on sweet dishes. Peter loved cooking and in particular desserts and baking.

For Sev I found a book on the properties of potion ingredients and for Eileen bought a snow globe with Hogwarts inside it. Tuney's present was a second-hand handbag which was in a very good state. And for my dad? I got him a plaque saying 'My blessings call me Dad but you can call me Mr Evans' which made me laugh and I guessed he might too. The engraving had been personalised.

Tom and I finished our Christmas shopping and went to Madam Puddifoot's for lunch. Madam Puddifoot's was a place strictly for couple and made me wretch slightly but I was on a date so I forced myself in. As we ate we chatted about everything and I was able to forget about all the other couples in the café who were being a little to affectionate considering they were in a café.

PDA was not something that I had ever done before so it would be a new experience. We finished eating and decided to head back up to the school. As we left the village snow began to fall thick and fast. I laughed happily and skipped slightly. There was something about snow that made me feel content. I turned my face to Tom's and saw him holding a huge amount of snow. He had evidently conjured it and I knew exactly what he wanted to do with it.

'Oh no you don't!' I said and started sprinting away. He chased after me and the two of us pelted down the lane. I pointed my wand at him and caused a flurry of snow to hit him in the face. Unfortunately for me, it didn't slow him down and only increased his desire to through his giant pile of snow on me. I shrieked slightly and darted for cover behind a tree at the side of the path. This, however, was exactly what Tom wanted me to do and I only realised it as he pounced on me with the snow in his hand. I fell back onto the newly fallen snow and was immediately met with a face full of the cold, white, powdery substance that Tom had been carrying. I brushed it out of my face laughing and he flopped down next to me. The two of us took a moment to calm down and regain our breath.

I made to sit up but Tom pulled me back down and rolled onto his front. Then he propped himself up on his elbows so that his head was a little above mine. I looked into his eyes and noted how alive they looked. My heart beat began pounding slightly. Was he about to kiss me? If so that could only be bad news. I had never kissed anyone in my life which would mean that this would most likely be terrible.

He leaned in closer but still didn't kiss me. This scenario was a little like something out of one of Mary's romance novels. I never liked those books as I felt all the character's emotions were wildly exaggerated. Despite disliking them I read every single one. Why? I was bored and I took it upon myself to read all the books we had in our dormitory. Now, every time I ran out of things to do I would either go to the library or go to my dormitory and find a book I hadn't read yet.

'I've never kissed anyone before!' I suddenly burst out. Tom's eyes filled with merriment as my cheek started to burn scarlet and match my hair.

'Really? Well we'll have to change that…' and his lips crashed onto mine. There was a moment where I wasn't sure what to do but then I just shut my eyes and felt myself kissing him back.

* * *

Gryffindor Tower was empty when I reached it. The Girls were obviously still on their dates so I sat on my bed and started wrapping Christmas presents. I had said goodbye to Tom in the Entrance Hall and made my way to the dormitory in a happy daze. I was slightly concerned that I was turning into one of those soppy girls who fawned over boys all day and because of that I had made an oath to myself that that would never happen.

Upon picking up the plaque I had bought for my dad I realised I hadn't written to him in ages. True, I was seeing him again in only two weeks but at the same time he would be quite lonely all alone in the house. So instead of continuing my present wrapping I picked up a piece of parchment, an ink bottle, a quill and one of my textbooks to lean on.

 **A Letter From Lily Evans To John Evans**

Dear Dad,

I haven't written to you in ages. How you holding up? How's the shop? Neighbours alright? I wanted to write to you a while ago but I didn't have the heart to do it. Stuff's happened since I last wrote and I guess I wanted to tell you it. Sometimes it's nice to tell someone everything. I didn't really say much in all my other letters so I start with Halloween.

I told you we had a Masked Ball but I didn't tell you what happened at it. Well, one of my mates, Alice, went with this guy she'd fancied for years and all was going well until they kissed. The guy said the wrong thing afterwards son now she thinks he's been playing with her and doesn't actually like her. At the same time this guy really likes her and I want they to tell each other how they feel but I'm pretty sure if they do it now everything will go wrong. Can I rant for a moment here? It's so frustrating for me because everyone turns to me for advice and I try and give them it but sometimes it's exhausting. People turn to me as though I have the answer for everything and I really don't. I know it's best if the two of them get together but if they do it now they'll rush into it and it'll all be ruined. But at the same time the state of their relationship has created a barrier between two groups of people who used to get on well. I mean individuals still talk but overall it's a lot less and overall there's a lot of tension. It suck and I don't quite know how to get out of this situation.

Second is an event leading off this. You remember Marlene? I've mentioned all the Girls before but I probably haven't written about Marls in a long time. She beat up said guy for trying to talk to Alice. I get that she was just being protective but did she have to do it? It was horrible seeing it happen and then I was the only one who tried to stop her continuing. I watched one of my best mates punch the wind out of someone. And I'm a prefect. I had to give her detention and stuff afterwards. I was angry, so angry but at least it was an anger I could control. It was kind of like when I used to see Sirius pick on a younger student but it was ten times worse. At least Sirius grew out of that and whenever he did pick on someone he never caused any injuries. No that was what Potter did (and still does). I'd never seen Marls do anything that bad before and I still ended up sticking up for her outburst when Potter asked why she'd done it. He was the only one who helped me break up the fight and now I feel indebted to him which is the worst feeling in the world. I'm looking forward to getting away from the castle for a bit.

Last I'll end on something good. Well, I think it's good you might not. I went on a date. Yes, I know. Someone asked me! Has the world turned upside-down? Probably. His name's Tom Clarke and he's a Hufflepuff in my year as well as a fellow prefect. I'm writing this letter after our first date but it ended with him asking me to Professor Slughorn's Christmas Party. Oh yeah. He's also in the Slug Club. We're both old enough to be invited so I'll tell you about it when I next see you. It's nicknamed the Christmas Ball so I'm going to see what that's all about. It's on the 20th of December or the night before I head home to see you!

Will Tuney be there? Vernon too? If so I want to say thanks to her about the bridesmaid dress and shoes. They're absolutely stunning and I can't wait to see her dress. I bet Vernon will look great as a groom. Where are they getting married? I know it won't be Cokesworth. Also, while I'm staying at home I have an errand to run. Mum asked me in a letter she left for me to go and visit her family. She wanted me to meet them and tell them what actually happened to her when she left home. I'll probably do that on the 27th.

I can't wait to see you. Wait. Final question. Is it snowing at home yet? Hogwarts got snow today. We have to go sledging on boxing day like we always do. Do we still have the old sledge or did we give it to Maggie's boys? I can transfigure something at school into one before I leave just in case. Or I can source one in the Room of Requirement. Hey. Our street's Christmas Day football match! Is that still happening? I'm definitely playing if it is. Quidditch is nothing like good old football. Football is the best sport ever! Well, my final question turned into three.

Love you lots,

Lily

I folded up the parchment and headed to the owlery to post it. Christmas was so close. Mine and Tom's relationship was going great. There was nothing that could spoil my mood. Nothing at all. I rounded the corridor and saw a sobbing Mary stagger out of the girl's loos. She kicked the wall and sank to the floor crying her eyes out.

I rushed over, threw the letter aside and put my arms around the crying form of one of my best friends. Rocking her in my arms, I whispered words of comfort as big, fat tears continued to roll down her cheeks. The two of us sat in that deserted corridor for several hours while Mary sobbed. I made no attempt to move her and simply hugged her. She said nothing but carried on crying into the night until the torches in the brackets went out and I forced myself to move her. It was nearly midnight when we snuck into the dormitory. Alice and Marlene we sound asleep. I conjured up a mug of hot chocolate for Mary and tucked her up in her bed. She fell asleep quickly and I went to my own bed after cleaning my teeth and changing into my pyjamas. It wasn't until around 3 am when I woke up after a restless sleep that I realised I left my letter for my dad in the corridor where I'd found Mary.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **What's up with Mary and who's going to pick up that letter? Sorry about the date. I'm not very good at writing stuff like that but I'll say it again that I like Tom. He's a good bloke and no he will not be secretly horrible or something.**

 **Please review :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 **A/N: I'm really sorry about posting this late! The next few chapters are kind of bridging the gap between last chapter and when Lily returns from the Christmas holidays. This week's chapter is being posted as usual but chapters 17 and 18 will be posted on the 21** **st** **of December. I'm not going to be able to post those chapters on the 25** **th** **and on the 1** **st** **so I'm going to post them early. The weekend of the 8** **th** **should be when everything goes back to normal.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

When I first woke at 5.30 am I was sure it had just been one of those mornings where I would just jolt awake. I had thought that until I heard the bathroom door creak shut. Evidently, I was not the only one awake. To most people this may have seemed normal but then again, most people had never met my girlfriends. If there was an award for least morning people in the universe they would all earn first prize. So, for one of my roommates to be up at 5.30 was unheard of.

I fully pulled back my hangings and peered around the dark dormitory. Both Marlene and Alice's beds had their hangings tightly drawn but Mary's curtains were opened to reveal her empty bed. Considering the possibility that she had simply needed the loo I waited a few minutes. She didn't come back out again so I tiptoed over to the bathroom and slowly opened the door.

'Mary?' I whispered as my eyes adjusted to the light of the bathroom. There was a small whimper which caused me to jerk my head in the direction of it. Mary sat on the floor facing the toilet. She had the look of someone who had thrown up quite recently. There was a small trace of sick on her cheek. I shut the door behind me and wordlessly ran a flannel under the tamp before rushing over to her. Dabbing away the sick, I looked her in the eyes and saw that her bright blue ones were filled with tears.

She sobbed silently as I cleaned her up and continued for another few minutes once I'd finished.

'I sorry I woke you up Lily.' She whispered and I smiled at her.

'Mary, what's wrong? You can tell me. I won't judge.'

She was silent and seemed to be building up the courage to tell me something. I waited patiently because I knew if I spoke she would lose any courage she had.

'I'm pregnant.' She blurted out and looked at me with a panicked expression. It was almost as though it was the first time she had admitted it to herself let alone me. I studied her carefully and then nodded for her to continue. 'It must have been a few weeks ago, that it happened. I mean I've had sex since then but not without protection. That time I'd just finished my period and I thought it would be fine. Why was I so stupid?'

'Andrew's the dad?'

'Oh, Merlin yes.'

'Does he know?'

She shook her head.

'Well, then that's the first thing on our agenda.'

'Our?' Mary asked puzzled.

'You didn't think I'd let you do this on your own did you?' Again she shook her head. 'I suppose the first question I should really ask is if you're keeping the baby. I mean if you're going for an abortion then in theory you don't need to tell Andrew anything. Then again, seeing as you're a couple you tell each other everything. If you don't know whether you want an abortion then telling Andrew about it might be good because he can help you decide but remember at the end of the day it's your choice not his. I can always write a list of the pros and cons of keeping the baby and abortion if you want. If you're keeping the baby then we need to get you a St Mungos appointment and decide who you're telling and not telling. If you want to keep it a complete secret we can cast a concealment charm on your stomach when it gets bigger.'

'I'm keeping the baby.'

'Okay. Do you plan on giving it up for adoption or are you going to remain its parent.'

'Stay its parent.'

'Well, then we need to decide how you're going to tell Andrew and if you want to tell him first or Professor McGonagall first.'

'I don't know. Lily, what if I'm expelled?'

'Mary, you will not be expelled.'

'How do you know that. I bet I'll tell McGonagall and she'll send me packing straight away.'

'Mary, I know every single one of the Hogwarts rules off by heart and not one of them says anything about expelling pregnant students.'

'Really?'

'Really.'

'How are you so calm about this?' she asked incredulously.

'Me? Mary, I'm just trying to help you. Goodness knows you have every right to be freaking out right now so I'm just keeping a cool head so I can be of use. You're one of my best mates and I'll help you with anything. Well almost anything. If you wanted help murdering some person I probably wouldn't help.'

Mary chuckled and it was a nice change to see her slightly cheerful.

'But what now? Urgh! Lily, I'm a wreck. I can't be a mum!'

'Well you can always give the baby up for adoption.'

'No. I know I'll get really attached besides I've always wanted a baby just maybe not in this scenario.'

'I reckon you should actually tell McGonagall first. We need to find out what the school's going to do. If you tell Andrew once we've got a clear idea of how school's going to work you may feel more confident about telling him if you know majority of the plan already. Most of the plan is going to revolve around the school's reaction and how they deal with it. We can form one without knowing Andrew's reaction but not without knowing what school thinks.'

'I guess you're right.' She sighed and began twirling one of her pale blonde locks in between her fingers.

'Maybe we should discuss the rest later. Go back to bed for a bit and I'll bring up breakfast for all four of us. Marlene and Alice will want to help so will come up with the plan then. I'd tell McGonagall at break cause we've got Transfiguration afterwards so you won't get in trouble for being late. I'll go with you if you want but she probably won't let me stay whilst you tell her.'

'Yeah. Just Marlene, Alice and McGonagall to start with.'

'Perfect. I'll go get dressed and get food.'

And so, I did just that. I changed into my school robes and collected some food from the kitchens. When I returned, Mary had already told Alice and Marlene about her pregnancy and the three of them were now discussing how to break the news to Andrew.

'I'm thinking by the lake.' Alice was saying. She broke off as I place down the food and the four of us tucked in. Alice continued after a large gulp of food. 'That way if he doesn't want anything to do with the baby it'll just seem like you wanted to tell him away from the rumour mill but if he does want something to do with the baby it'll seem like a really romantic way of telling him.'

I nodded eagerly. Marlene looked thoughtful.

'I don't suppose we have a clue to what his reaction will be?' she asked. Mary shook her head.

'No.' she said miserably. 'In a way, telling him will be worse than telling McGonagall. At least with her I won't feel like I've been betrayed. If he says he doesn't care I'm not sure what I'll do.'

'Mary, you'll always have us either way.' And Marlene, Alice and I all hugged Mary.

* * *

Mary and I walked down the Transfiguration corridor and towards Professor McGonagall's office. We moved swiftly in an attempt to prevent Mary from trying to turn back. Marlene and Alice both had detentions so it was me and me alone who accompanied Mary. The pair of us continued on our way and soon reached the door which was the only thing between us and one of the many sources of Mary's trembling state. Judging by Mary shaking like a leaf I knew she was in no way, shape or form able to create the will power to knock. I knocked once on the door and it opened immediately.

Professor McGonagall sat behind her desk eating what I knew to be a Ginger Newt. They were her favourite biscuit and she had a large tartan tin filled with them. I knew this after visiting her office a week after my mum's funeral. She'd offered me one and it was then that she'd told me her preference for them. On her desk lay a pile of parchment which looked suspiciously like the essays we had written for homework and handed in last lesson. Behind her desk stood a cabinet which was filled with trophies won by Gryffindor in previous years and one by the looks of things by the Hogwarts Chess Club. Wow, that one must have been old because it had been a long time since there had been a chess club. It had stopped running about half way through my first year – much to my disappointment.

'Ah, Miss McDonald and Miss Evans.' She said and observed us shrewdly.

'We came to see you.' I said slightly nervously.

'And was it just a social visit or did you have a purpose of coming to my office.' Blimey, I thought, she didn't half make it hard to confess something.

'Yes.' I said timidly. 'Mary has something she'd like to tell you.'

'Then perhaps it should be Miss McDonald speaking to me.' She glanced at a clock that hung on the wall before continuing. 'Miss Evans, if you could go on ahead to our classroom I would be much obliged. I'm sure whatever Miss McDonald has to tell me will not take long but should we run into period three then it would put me at ease to know someone responsible was in the classroom also.'

'Yes of course Professor.' I squeezed Mary's hand and left. I wanted to stay but what choice did I have? I reached the Transfiguration classroom and sat down in my seat. A few moments later and Alice and Marlene sat down either side of me. I moved from side to side on my seat in agitation and kept glancing at the clock every 5 seconds or so. Tom tapped me on the shoulder as he passed to get to his seat and the smile I gave him when I turned around felt like a stranger to the rest of my body. He laughed at me and told me that he was sure I'd done really well on my essay. My lips twitched weakly in response and I returned to fidgeting on my chair.

After 10 minutes of Professor McGonagall not showing up I began to panic slightly. I knew that the situation would take a lot longer to sort out then Professor McGonagall had thought it would but I was anxious to see Mary. Marlene was keeping her nerves in check by abusing her desk but I was to apprehensive to reprimand her for vandalising school property. Alice was chewing on a bunch of her hair and staring unblinkingly in front of her.

What if they expelled her? No, they couldn't. As I had told Mary, there were no rules saying she couldn't stay at school. What if she was being yelled at? And I would have been the one who set her up for that. I'd told her to tell Professor McGonagall so if she was being shouted at it would be all my fault.

Sirius and Remus had ganged up against Peter and Potter in a stationery war. Scrunched up parchment was flying everywhere and the Marauders had turned their desks into forts. Other members of the class joined and Tom dragged me behind his desk for cover as an ink pellet (thrown by Sirius) almost hit me square in the face. I barely reacted due to my mind being completely elsewhere. The stationery war raged on for about half an hour until people ran out of things to throw. I crept out from behind Tom's desk and looked at the wreckage of a classroom before me

'Remus.' I said. 'Can you help get everyone out of here? I need to tidy up before the end of the lesson.' Remus nodded.

'Everyone into the corridor!' he bellowed over the hubbub of our classmates and they all trouped out. I set about cleaning and once Remus had ushered everyone into the corridor he helped me. Thank goodness for magic! What would have taken us about 2 hours to clean took only about 2 minutes with the help of some decent cleaning spells. The classroom and everyone's things were returned to their former state and for the rest of the double period the class did work on the vanishing spell.

I had walked up to the front desk to see if there was any work we could do and found Professor McGonagall's lesson plan. I have no idea what came over me and my only explanation was that I needed a distraction because I tried to teach the rest of the class about vanishing spells and amazingly they all listened. In fact, they took notes on what I was saying. In Transfiguration and everything!

'The incantation Evanesco is actually Latin for vanish or disappear. You can vanish almost anything with enough practice but it is quite difficult to master. Once you know how moving from non-vertebrates to vertebrates can be quite easy.

Due to a lack in internal skeletons non-vertebrates are easier to vanish. Their exo-skeleton although tough has nothing to protect it. In vertebrates skin and flesh are in the way. Magic is more difficult to pass through skin and flesh which is why vertebrates are harder to vanish. Once the skeleton is vanished the creature loses its structure which makes it simpler to disappear. Exo-skeletons are of course external which means the structure is first to vanish rather than the flesh. This order of vanishing happens too fast to see with the naked eye so you'll be spared any disturbing sights and the creature doesn't feel any pain. The creature will be vanished to the non-being but can be made to reappear with another incantation.

Causing inanimate objects to disappear is another branch within the vanishing spell. It is the same incantation but a different wand movement… '

And for the rest of the lesson I taught and people took notes. I knew all the set books off by heart and it was paying off. Of course, it definitely wasn't up to Professor McGonagall's standards but it was a well needed distraction. It was also helping to ease my conscience about allowing the stationery fight.

Sirius would have been a better teacher as would Remus and to be honest Potter too. However, even the best people in Transfiguration were taking notes from what I was saying. Sirius was taking notes! He never took notes but here he was writing and listening intently to me. Admittedly, he also kept winking at me and when everyone set about practicing the spell he showed me his notes. Two pages were full of genuine notes but his third page was an extremely skilful cartoon of Remus and I cleaning up the classroom. I laughed a lot at that and showed it to Remus who framed it and placed it on Professor McGonagall's desk with a cheeky grin and said 'She should know not to leave a class unsupervised with the Marauders in it.' Oh, Remus, he was definitely a prankster.

The bell echoed through the castle and everyone scrambled for their things. I made to pack up and noticed on my bag lay a folded-up piece of parchment with a note stuck to it.

 **A Note From A Mysterious Letter Finder To Lily Evans:**

I believe this is yours. You might want to keep a closer watch on your personal letters.

Happy Christmas.

I stared at the note. What on Earth? Who were they? Why didn't they say? I needed to thank them for returning the letter I had left in the corridor I'd found Mary in. I really needed to thank them. What kind of person would I be if I didn't thank them? And I couldn't even wish them a Happy Christmas in return! That was for me quite a big deal.

Professor McGonagall walked in. I promptly dropped the parchment and had to stoop to collect it. As I stood up I looked for Mary but she wasn't there.

'Miss McDonald is still with the headmaster.' She said in answer to my worried look. That didn't really soothe me but at least I knew she wasn't expelled yet. Professor McGonagall turned to Alice and Marlene who were waiting for me. 'Perhaps you two could wait outside. I'd like a word with Miss Evans. Alone.'

I stared at her. Professor McGonagall had this way of making me feel like I'd done something wrong. Marlene and Alice scurried out of the room with a last sympathetic look at me before they shut the door. There was silence in the classroom.

'Professor?' I asked timidly.

'Firstly, I wanted to congratulate you on your teaching today. I heard some of it whilst waiting outside. It was quite remarkable. I'm sure you could always find a career in teaching should you be unsure of what path you wish to take.'

I was silent knowing that this was not the reason she'd ask to speak with me.

'Miss McDonald's situation has come to light and of course certain steps must be taken. She will need regular appointments at St Mungos which will require her missing lessons on a few occasions. As one of her closest friends and a model student I wish you to be the one accompanying her. Miss Young and Miss Prewitt are both close to her but I would prefer you to be the one keeping her company. It will be quite daunting for her and even if the father doesn't shy away from the situation I would be happier if you were with her. Miss Evans, you will of course miss lessons also but I have higher faith in you being able to catch them up compared with others who could possibly accompany her.

Miss McDonald has not yet told the father but I would urge you to encourage Miss McDonald to tell him soon. Should he turn away, the blow will be better now than in a few months.'

'Yes, of course Professor.'

She dismissed me with a small smile playing about her lips. I rushed off to find Marlene and Alice.

* * *

It was dinner and I sat at the Hufflepuff table with Tom and his best mate George Abbott. Marlene was off with Patrick – probably in a broom cupboard somewhere and Alice sat with her Gryffindor 6th year. Mary was currently on her walk around the lake with Andrew and sharing her big news. Strangely, I wasn't worried. I supposed it was because I knew that Mary was strong and she could do this pregnancy without Andrew's support if needs be. She had Alice, Marlene and I to help her after all.

George was telling Tom and I about the time his aunt grew a flutterby bush in her kitchen.

'And then she starts to prune the bush. Well, obviously, the flowers fly away when you do that so her kitchen was soon covered in these flying blue things!' We all laughed heartily. Tom had his arm around my shoulder and I could literally feel him shaking with laughter. 'At this point I walk into the kitchen and see my aunt running around waving a tea towel in her hands. Every time she tried to waft them out they'd all fly behind her. She gave up in the end and when she came into the kitchen a day later they'd all vanished. So no-one remembers the incident until about a month later. The flowers had planted themselves in all the nooks and crannies and a month afterwards they start growing. There's still a load of flutterby bushes growing in that kitchen.'

We all continued to chuckle for a while.

'When I get my own place I'll probably do something like that.' Tom said evenly. 'Lily, it's your job to make sure that doesn't happen.'

'Why's it my job?' I asked in mock irritation.

'Because you're the smart one out of us two.'

'I'll agree with you there, mate.' George said nodding wisely. 'I reckon Lily's got enough brains for the two of you.'

'That's not true!' I protested. At that moment, I saw Mary enter the Entrance Hall. 'Excuse me lads but I've got to go see Mary.' Without further ado, I pecked Tom quickly on the lips and rushed out of the Great Hall and towards Mary.

'What did he say?' I gasped as I regained my breath. Hey! I've never prided myself on being fit.

'He said he'll stay with me forever.' She answered, her face aloof with happiness. Mary and Andrew were a mega romantic couple. So much so I was intensely glad Tom was not all about romantic ways of speaking and huge gestures. I probably would have spent my whole day gagging if Tom said something like that; the only time he had ever said something soppy was when he asked me out and was exaggerating everything. It had been quite the hilarious and memorable evening. Mary had her love-struck face on again and I knew all was well.

* * *

I sat with Mary in the waiting room of St Mungos. She was due an appointment any minute now and was increasingly nervous.

'Miss, McDonald?' called out a lady dressed in green robes with the St Mungos' logo stitched on it. The two of us got up and followed her. As we entered the room I seated myself on a chair and Mary on the examining bench. We'd spoken to this very healer an hour ago about Mary's pregnancy and now it was time for the examination. 'If you'd just roll up your top for me so I can get a good look at your stomach.' Mary obeyed and the healer began murmuring spells and hovering her wand at certain points of Mary's stomach. 'There's definitely a baby. I'd say you're only about one and a half months in. Baby seems fine. I can't tell gender yet obviously but around four to five months in we'll be able to tell you if you wish.'

The appointment ended a few minutes later and the two of us left St Mungos and headed through the streets of London towards the Leaky Cauldron. Mary walked silently and I could tell she was thinking about something.

'Penny for your thoughts?' I asked gently. She started slightly before responding.

'I'm just wondering how I'm going to decorated the baby's room. What colour do you think would be best for a baby room?' Professor Dumbledore had provided Mary and Andrew with a set of rooms they could use once the baby had arrived. These rooms would make parenting easier whilst the two of them were at school. Once Andrew finished school he would take the baby to whatever home he planned to live in and come and visit Mary with the baby at weekends.

'Lets just be happy that the Baby's fine for the moment. What colour the room is doesn't need to be decided yet. Besides I'm sure Andrew would love to help with that.'

* * *

The corridor along to Professor Slughorn's Christmas party was lit with orange lanterns and Tom and I walked arm in arm towards the sound of laughter, talk and music. We reached the entrance and walked through the threshold. Slughorn's office had been magically enlarged and elaborately decorated to match the theme of Christmas. At the far end of the room was a band playing a slow soppy love song. In order to avoid dancing to such an irksome tune I dragged Tom over to the buffet table. He chuckled at my choice of destination. We helped ourselves to some food and watched the couples on the dancefloor slow dance awkwardly.

'If the next song's decent, want to dance?' I offered and Tom grinned in response. The song did eventually change and became bearable. It was in fact Step into Christmas by Elton John and Tom eagerly led me onto the dancefloor. Fancy that? A muggle song playing at Slughorn's Christmas party. He swirled me around and I felt so genuinely happy as we moved around the floor. The music filled my ears and all I could see was Tom's face that was lit up with energy. I smiled and felt myself flow with the music. I suddenly felt in the excitement of Christmas flood into me and I laughed in delight. The song ended and Tom took my hand and began to move away from the dancefloor. I of course was pulled after him.

'Close your eyes.' He instructed and I did so. He continued to lead me across the party until we came to an abrupt halt.

'Can I open my eyes yet?' I asked.

'Lord, aren't you nosey. No, they've got to stay shut.' I stood on the spot and kept my eyes shut. Tom let go of my hand and suddenly I was alone. Not for long though as someone swooped on me and kissed me on the lips. I opened my eyes and they met Tom's mischievous blue ones. He was holding mistletoe above our heads which I noticed and it caused me to smile into his lips. Then I shut my eyes again and let the moment steal me away.

We broke apart eventually and returned to reality. The party was still in full swing and I could see Sirius waltzing with a very reluctant Remus. The pair of them were quite the sight with one smirking and the other looking disgusted by their dance partner's enthusiasm. Oh those two, I thought fondly. Then I returned my attention to my date and we set off towards Slughorn so that he would know we had attended. Otherwise we would be due a very disappointed Professor next potions lesson.

'Ah, Miss Evans and Mister Clarke. How nice of you to come.' He beamed at the pair of us. 'You've done well for yourself young man! Miss Evans, is the finest of ladies. Quite the vivacious and charming girl.' I turned scarlet.

'I _find_ her pretty amazing' Tom said with a straight face. Next to him, I struggled at keeping in the laughter that was close to bubbling out of me.

'I think you're talking about somebody else.' I said trying to control my mirth.

'How could you say such a thing? You are one of the most talented potioneers I've ever had the fortune of meeting. If you haven't invented the world's most useful potion in 20 years… Ah, there's Mr Belby. I must go and say hello. If you'll excuse me.' He waddled off.

'Well, there's your target for the next 20 years.' Tom said smirking at me.

'Oh hush.' I said hitting his arm playfully.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I'm not an expert on pregnancies so I'm sorry if I am inaccurate with how I write about it. That goes for the rest of the story as well.**

 **Next chapter's all about Christmas!**

 **Please review :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **A/N: It's Christmas in Jily land! I was so happy that Christmas was falling on a Sunday meaning I could post this on Christmas Day but then I remembered that internet is not a word heard by my family from around nowish to the 1** **st** **of January.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The Hogwarts Express had just pulled into Platform 9 and ¾. The Girls and I had decided that the journey home for Christmas would be boy free so we had completely male-free day. We took the opportunity to discuss girl things and have a proper natter because it had been two long since the four of us had all chatted together about everything under the weather. I didn't join in the gossiping because I always tried to stay away from talking behind people's backs. I was sure if someone had just broken up with their other half they would appreciate on less person wondering loudly whether they had gained any break up fat. I was now more cautious than ever because of Mary's pregnancy. You couldn't tell by looking at her that she was expecting but when the rumours would start to kick in they would most likely be extremely nasty. Then when everyone found out the truth they would probably worsen.

I took my things off the luggage holder and sidled out of the train and onto the platform. With a last 'Happy Christmas' at my mates I headed for the exit. The muggle world of King Cross Station was packed with those travelling to see their family for Christmas. I edged through the crowds and eventually reached the freezing outside. After the stuffy station, it was a relief to have the icy chill tickle my face. Dad's ancient car was parked further down the street I stood on so I began moving swiftly towards it.

Dad was reading a newspaper in the front seat and only looked up when I knocked on the window. He grinned as he looked up and I began to put my things in the boot. Once everything was in the car I shut the door and noticed dad had got out of the car. Straight away I ran and hugged him and he chuckled but hugged me back. We stood like that for a few moments before I pulled back and looked him up and down.

'You've lost weight.' I said shrewdly. And so he had. He was definitely skinnier than before and his clothes hung loosely on him. I guessed he hadn't been able to bring himself to eat as much as before mum's death. No longer was he trying to motivate her to eat by eating food himself so if he missed a meal it didn't really matter much to him.

'Busy.' He replied guiltily and I raised my eyebrow at him. I would definitely be feeding dad up for as long as I was at home.

'So how's everyone after the…' I tugged my plait. 'You know the…'

'Everyone's fine. Anyone who didn't know about magic thinks it was a gas explosion thanks to those wizards who fixed the house. Us folk who knew about the real cause were just told to not say anything to anyone else.'

'Oh.'

The two of us got into the car and we drove back to Cokesworth talking about anything under the weather.

My street was the same as it was every Christmas. The car pulled up onto the side of the road in front of our house and the pair of us got out. Snow covered the cobbled street and through the windows of our bakery I could see the paper Christmas decorations we always used to decorate the shop. I unloaded my things and dad took the lighter half whilst I took the heavier stuff. I didn't tell him that the things he was carrying were lighter because he would have insisted on carrying the heavier things.

We entered the flat and dumped my stuff in my room. Next to my bed was a mattress on the floor

'Is Tuney staying?' I asked. Dad nodded.

'She and Vernon are staying overnight on Christmas Eve and leaving after presents in the morning. I'll put them in my bed cause it's a double and that means I'll be kipping in here.'

'Oh. Well, I can thank her for the bridesmaid dress and shoes.'

'Sent those to you already, did she?' Dad asked. 'Is that what's in the hat box?'

'Yup.'

'You'll have to show me. I was there for the whole of that shopping trip and it will be nice to see those hours were worth it. Vernon's sister Marge looked…interesting in hers.'

'Dad! You can't say that about your future son-in-law's sister.'

'Hey, I'm not related to her.' I held my hands up in mock surrender.

Dad went downstairs to the bakery and I went to our broom cupboard after realising the unclean state of the flat. I grabbed the cleaning equipment and placed it in the hallway.

'Right.' I said rolling up the sleeves of my jumper. 'Let's clean this flat.'

* * *

Christmas Eve came quickly and before I knew it I found myself hastily straightening the quilt on the double bed Tuney and Vernon would be sleeping in. The days running up to this moment in time had been quite hectic. The buying of the tree, the wrapping of presents and the cooking of food had made time dwindle away.

The doorbell rang.

I jumped slightly before rushing towards the front door and opening it. In the threshold stood Tuney and Vernon. Tuney looked slightly disgusted by the sight of me and Vernon looked as though my clothes were offensive to him. They walked into the hallway with quiet mummering's of 'Happy Christmas' which I returned as I took their coats from them.

After a supposedly tiring journey they decided they would nap before dinner and I left them to do so. This was going to be an awkward visit.

At dinner, we were treated to Vernon's fascinating and completely inoffensive stories. I ate my roast chicken in silence and on occasion let out a very forced laugh. Once we'd finished eating I cleared the table and brought the dirty dishes into the kitchen. Then the four of us put on out coats and headed off to our local church. All the way there Vernon muttered about what a waste of time church was so I ignored him.

The church service was as it always was. Full of community and smiles. Afterwards Mrs Jenkins and Maggie caught hold of me and held me back.

'So that's Petunia's young man then? An interesting choice. Not as young or as handsome as I thought he was going to be. Mags never described him.'

'It's up to you to what you think of him, ma.'

The two of them had a hold of one of my arms each and they led me to the side of the graveyard which surrounded the church. Dad winked at me from the church door where he was talking to the vicar and I could feel his internal laughter as he saw who my two companions were.

'Is Petunia bringing him to the street's Christmas meal?'

'Is he from London? Eileen said his dad's the CEO of some place. They make them differently in London. More refined.' Maggie said beaming.

'Yes, yes. But you wouldn't say yes if one of them offered, would you? Not if bloody Jeff's still around.' Mrs Jenkins said snidely causing Maggie to glare at her mum. 'Didn't say yes then. Won't say yes now. That's a guarantee.'

'Jeff's my man and you just have to get over it!' Maggie snapped. The two women were now both sending the evils at each other and I stood slightly awkwardly between them. I could still see dad, who was waiting for me but now standing with Jeff, howling with laughter. Jeff too was chuckling heartily as he held the youngest of his kids, Kate, in his arms. Maggie's boys were playing 'it' in the graveyard and were completely oblivious to the argument ensuing between their mum and grandma.

'He is a-'

'Let's all calm down.' I cut across before Mrs Jenkins started a torrent of swear words.

'Ma, mind the kids. _You're_ grandchildren.'

'As if they don't hear them all day anyway. That primary school of theirs has gone to...in my day it was decent.' Mrs Jenkins muttered darkly.

'In your day, they used the cane.' Maggie countered.

'In my day we had standards.'

'Standards!?' Maggie practically screamed. 'What like my dad? The one who left his wife when he found out she was pregnant?'

Any amusement left the situation except among the children who seemed oblivious. My eyes widened in fear. I looked at Mrs Jenkins with apprehension. This was news to me but I was more concerned of how Mrs Jenkins would react. She began shaking with rage and she narrowed her eyes at her only child.

I remembered something mum had said to me once when I'd first made friends with Sev. I'd been asking her if it was wrong to befriend him if Tuney said he looked too scruffy to approach. She'd replied with: 'Of course you can be friends. Appearance has nothing to do with it. You know, there are many people in this area who aren't the person they appear to be.' Thanks for the encrypted code.

Mrs Jenkins must have been one of the people she'd been referring to. The story I knew was that her husband had died in an accident up at the mill works on the day she supposedly announced her pregnancy.

Maggie's eyes seemed to be flecked with fire as they looked coldly upon her mother. The two women glowered at one another for what seemed like an age before Mrs Jenkins stormed off and Maggie turned away. Once Mrs Jenkins was out of sight, tears began rolling silently down Maggie's cheeks. I signalled for Jeff to come over and comfort the sobbing Maggie. I took Kate from him so that he could put his wife in an embrace.

'The kids can stay with us tonight.' I whispered and he nodded whilst rocking Maggie tenderly in his arms. 'We'll go now and get their stuff.' I turned to the boys who were still playing 'it'. 'We're having a Christmas sleepover! Come on you lot.' I was met my cheers from the four boys, a happy gurgle from the baby in my arms and the combined look of revulsion from Tuney and Vernon. Dad led the way back home where he then took the boys to collect their things and he made sure that he brought everything we needed for Kate. I unlocked our front door and the soon to be Mr and Mrs Dursleys stalked off into their room. Adjusting Kate on my hip, I strolled into the living room to move the sofas out the way so that the kids plus me could sleep in there. This proved quite difficult due to the baby on my hip but luckily for me the four boys and dad returned. They leapt immediately into action and pretty soon the living room looked ready to accommodate all of us.

When we were all ready for bed we sat down on the rugs we were using for mattresses and began messing around. Little Kate sat in my lap giggling and Michael, the eldest of Maggie's boys, was re-enacting his defeat of the next neighbourhood's football team. The second eldest, Sam, was being the team cowering at the feet of this area's team. The youngest of Maggie's boys, Charlie and Josh were being the adoring crowd. At certain moments, Kate and I would be the swooning ladies which were unlikely to have been in the crowds and rather players in the team but it was the boys' moment of glory and I wasn't going to spoil it.

They reminded me of Sirius and Potter after they had won a Quidditch match. Remus and Peter would usually be the exaggerated fans. This charade would usually end with Peter pretending to pass out because Potter shook his hand and Remus ending with a mock hailing of Sirius. These retellings were always worth a watch.

The kids exhausted themselves and drifted off into their dreams of Christmas and football. Kate had fallen asleep on me and my last thought before falling asleep myself was that dad had forgotten to bring her cot over to ours.

* * *

The Christmas Day football match had been cancelled due to the snow on the street being far too thick and the new set of heavy snowflakes falling down over Cokesworth. So instead of spending the afternoon playing football I was forced to get ready for the street's meal with Maggie. My road, Hargreaves Avenue, had a Christmas Dinner every year. Everyone on the street and in our community, was invited and the women of the area cooked the food whilst the men set up the ground floors of three consecutive houses for people to eat in. Sexism, am I right? Then once the cooking was done all, females who were considered women would dress up for the occasion and do each other's hair and so forth.

It was because of that tradition that I now sat on Maggie's bed, after being forced into a silver dress, wearing a disgruntled expression as Eileen did my hair and Maggie did my makeup. The cheap makeup was apparently alright on me according to the collective gasps and 'awws' residing from my fellow females. The same could be said for my hair.

'So Sev said you've got yourself a young man. Is it true?' Eileen asked curiously. I couldn't see her face but I knew she was smirking. I'd given her the package from mum a few hours previously and we'd both teared up a bit. But we were all in the Christmas spirit now. Unfortunately, this spirit apparently made Eileen mischievous.

'Lily!' gasped Maggie. 'You've kept that quiet!'

'I-' I tried to speak but I was interrupted.

'What's his name? It's not that James Potter is it. From all Sev's told me I had a feel-'

'His name is Tom.' I said slowly and firmly.

'Do I know him?' Maggie asked curiously.

'Probably not.' She deflated a little.

'Is he like Petunia's lad?' Eileen asked.

'Older and rich?' added Maggie.

'He's in my year at school, so no. And I've got no idea how much money he has. It's not something I'd ask anyone let alone my boyfriend.' I realised then that I'd never called Tom my boyfriend before. Considering we'd been dating for only a few weeks it was a big step. And considering I wasn't into the idea of soppy relationships and relationship milestones.

'Ooooh!' burst out Maggie who looked as though she might explode with excitement. 'So he's not any old lad either? Not just a one date kind of fling. He's your _boyfriend_.' She giggled happily and I groaned.

Really, Maggie was worse than my girlfriends.

'Eileen! We're losing her to the world of men!' Maggie announced dramatically. 'Our baby Lily! She's all grown up. Next thing we'll hear is either wedding bells or baby!'

'BABY!?' I asked in alarm. I may have been able to help Mary with her pregnancy alongside Marlene and Alice but me with a baby? Me?

'Well, you go to a mixed _boarding school,_ don't you? If the secondary school I went to is anything to go on and we didn't even stay there overnight.' Maggie said cheekily.

'Maggie!' I said in shock. Eileen sat down on the other side of me, having done my hair, laughing.

'Don't lie to me, Lily. What else could have sealed the deal?'

'The deal?'

'The thing that labelled him your boyfriend.'

'Eww. No. No. No! I am definitely not at that stage with him.'

Maggie looked quite put out. In all honesty, she quite a lot like an older sister to me just like Eileen was like my aunt. It was always strange when I thought about it how majority of my family were people I had adopted into it.

'Well, I'd better go downstairs and tell ma the news.' Maggie said getting up and left with most of the other females who were keen to see Mrs Jenkins reaction. The night without children in the house seemed to be exactly what Maggie and her mum had needed to reconcile.

Once everyone had left, Eileen, who hadn't wandered downstairs, turned to me.

'What house is he in?' she asked. I was pretty sure that her opinion would not be based wholly upon Tom's house but as a British witch it was a question that was automatically asked when discussing an underage witch or wizard.

'Hufflepuff.' I said and she nodded with a smile.

'And his parents?'

'He's muggleborn.'

'Ahh.' Eileen paused for a moment. I knew she didn't care about his blood status but it could sometimes be an indicator of how difficult a relationship was going to be. In particular, if the significant other was pureblood because there was obviously a possibility that they disliked muggleborns. 'What's he like?'

'He's always really happy and when he laughs you can't help but laugh too. Tom loves History of Magic and anything to do with it – except Professor Binns. My mates like him too and he gets on well with them and I get on well with his best mate.'

'That's good. Wow, I still can't believe you've got a boyfriend. You've always been the little Lily I knew. Of course, I knew you'd grown up but now it's just sinking in.'

'I told dad about him when I wrote two weeks ago.'

'And he didn't tell me when I came to buy bread! Honestly men!' Eileen shook her head. 'And you young lady, need to write to me once in a while. I like to know what's going on. The same goes for Maggie. We worry and it's nice to have something to go on. Everyone looks forward to news from your dad about you but his responses aren't very descriptive.'

'I promise I'll write to you. I'll send my letters for Maggie to dad so I don't have to explain the owl. When's best for yours to arrive?' I asked and we both knew I was talking about Tobias.

'Lunch time's probably best.' She sighed. 'We'd better go down you know. It's impossible to make you look any more gorgeous and the only males to impress are Maggie's boys. I know Michael's only 3 years younger than you but you've already got a lad.'

I chuckled and the two of us went down to enjoy the food.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wanted a bit about the community Lily's from and her background. They're kind of irrelevant but at the same time I thinks it's nice to have more information on who Lily is and establish her more.**

 **Happy Christmas!**

 **Please Review :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **A/N: This is all about Lily's mum and a bit about Sirius – in a way…**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise**

 **Enjoy :)**

The train I took from Waterloo station to Seldeton was an extremely old train. It was painted green on the outside and had slightly grimy windows and seats. The train I had taken from Cokesworth to reach Waterloo had been in a similar state although admittedly it didn't hint that it would fall apart any time soon. I had therefore taken my seat on the rickety train with caution and had been afraid to shift when I began feeling pins and needles in my bum after hearing an ominous thud when the train turned a bend.

In order for a distraction I looked at the world outside of the compartment and saw field after field greet me. It was all snow covered and extremely isolated and only on occasion would I spot a lone farm house surrounded by the never ending white. The train lurched violently and I was forced to hold onto the suspiciously damp arm rest of my seat to stop myself from falling onto the floor. The floor was not an inviting colour. At first I had thought it to be a mouldy grey carpet but then I stepped on it and realised it was dust. The journey prolonged for another half an hour and then the train reached a tiny station with a sign saying 'Seldeton' on its platform.

Although the train had been uninviting, its destination looked picturesque. The station was like one in a Christmas card and from what I could see of the village you could describe it the same way. A wizened old Station Guard examined my ticket and let me through with a curious glance at my face. I passed into the village and was struck by how cosy it looked. It was comprised of one main street that had shops on it alongside a pub and a few smaller streets that branched off the main one. Where the buildings stopped, I could see a lane leading off over a hill. I decided to head to the pub first to get some directions to the home of the Bowers.

Walking quickly and with a sense of determination, I paid little attention to my surroundings and upon reaching the pub entrance knocked into someone. Wow. Three cheers for Lily!

'Oh!' I exclaimed. 'I'm so sorry.' The person I bumped into was a man who I guessed was around my dad's age. He didn't seem upset by the fact that I had practically run into him, rather shocked and then friendly.

'Gosh, don't mind me, old bean! I wasn't looking where I was going.' He spoke extremely heartily and I was a little taken aback. 'What's your name? Don't think I've seen you around.'

'Lily.' I answered politely. His eyes seemed to light up for a second but that light vanished as quickly as it had appeared. 'And yours sir?'

'George. George Bowers. And what brings you to Seldeton, Miss Lily?'  
Bowers, eh? Interesting…

'I have some news for Lord and Lady Bowers.'

'My old folks? I'll take you to them if you want but I'm having a quick luncheon here first. Care to join me, Miss Lily? They do a good brew if you're not hungry.'

'Thank you very much, sir.' I said and smiled at him. The two of us walked into the pub. If Mr George Bowers' parents were Lord and Lady Bowers, then he was evidently mum's brother. My uncle. We sat down at the table and I ordered some soup whilst George ordered a steak.

'So what's this news you've got?'

'I think I'll wait till your parents are there also. It's probably best if you're all together.'

'That bad is it?' he laughed raucously.

'Do you come here often?' I asked, changing the subject. He looked at me curiously and his eyes focused on my hair which was of course tied in its usual plait.

'Yes…What did you say your name was...Lily…Surname?'

'Lily Evans, sir.' His is widened slightly.

'You don't know someone called Martha Evans do you? Or maybe a John Evans?'

My uncle was definitely on the ball. Evidently, he knew my parents and in particular what mum had changed her name to but mum had said she hadn't seen her family since she left. Had she been lying?

'They're my parents.' I said quietly and George's eyes widened even more.

'By Jove! When you bumped into me outside I thought your hair was just like Cindy's. So you news. Is it from Cindy?'

'Do you mean Cynthia?'

'Yes, but Cindy was her nickname. So, you're her daughter? My niece.'

'Yes. I didn't realise you two kept in contact.'

'We didn't. Well, I didn't. I was too much of a coward after the things I said to her but she writes once a year at Christmas. Actually, this year she didn't but you're here so I guess that's instead of a letter.'

'Something like that.'

He laughed again and for quite a long time. I had no idea why so I watched him until he calmed down.

'You even say "Something like that". Gosh, you are definitely Cindy's. Got her height too now I think on it. I never met John so I don't know how you resemble him but I'm seeing Cindy. And what about your sister? I know Cindy has two girls. Does she look similar to you?'

'Petunia? Not really. She has mum's eyes and mouth but she's got blonde hair. She got the looks in general.'

'Interesting how genetics work isn't it. Some siblings look so similar you can tell their related but others are as different as chalk and cheese. Cindy and I never really looked similar but she looked more like mother and I more like father. When we were young the resemblance to our parents wasn't so pronounced but when we started growing up…' he stopped for a moment as he went off into a daydream of childhood. 'She was rebellious – even at a young age. Drove our old folks up the wall.'

We ate silently for a while and when we'd finished eating Uncle George insisted on paying. I eventually relented argument of at least paying my share and the two of us headed outside. Uncle George began leading the way to the Bower residence.

'So what's it like where you live?' I looked at Uncle George. How to change the subject? What would give him lots to talk about? 'Not like here I suppose.'

'It's beautiful here.' I said indicating the endless rolling fields on either side of the lane out of the village.

'Yes, and the fresh air makes it even better. I walk here every day and never get bored of it. The peace and quiet has always made it inviting especially since Caroline left.'

'Who's Caroline?'

'My wife but she went off with the gardener so I'm what's left of a broken relationship.' Well, I had not been trying to steer away from the topic of home and towards this.

'I'm sorry. I-I-I didn't mean to pry.'

'No, no its fine. That marriage was doomed from the start but I chose her over the other people offered because she was the best possible one. The highest socially. The one which my parents would like the most. I met her the first time when I was 13 years old. I was quite taken with her then and even at 21 I was still infatuated. But at least there was some affection there for her but none was returned. She was in fact only after money but in those first few years of marriage I didn't notice. She left me after 9 years to go off with the gardener. I didn't really mind and I don't now but it's frustrating. We've never actually divorced because she refuses to. Caroline doesn't want to lose any benefits of the Bowers surname.' I looked at my uncle for a few seconds before saying anything.

'You've kept that inside for a while.'

'And you read people well. I'm guessing you can do the same with personality. You're first impressions are generally quite accurate I'm sure.'

'Perhaps but I try to avoid being too judgmental. Basing everything on a first impression would limit us to the smallest amount of people we like.'

'That's very true and very different opinion to most people. Most would argue the first impression is everything.'

'You could argue that but circumstances of a first impression would alter a person. For example, if two people met on stage after winning a competition it could completely alter who they are as a person. One of them could usually be really bubbly but on stage they freeze up. I usually try and look for positives in people. It helps me not to be too judgmental.'

'But you can't always find good in people.'

'True, and I'll admit to giving up with several people.' Cough, cough, James Potter (though I think this year I had found some positives). 'I like to think that those people I gave up on are just really good at hiding their nice side.'

'You know some people would call you naïve but it's a nice notion what you do. You can't trust everyone though. Some people have, are and will always be rotten.'

I was about to open my mouth and say I didn't believe a baby to be counted as rotten when we reached the house. I let out a small gasp at the house in front of me. It looked like it had been built in the Georgian era and the words 'manor house' would have fitted its elegant appearance. The windows were large and through them I could see paintings which hung on the walls.

'Impressive.' I said and Uncle George chuckled. I followed him inside and a maid led us to, according to Uncle George, the drawing room. Inside this room were lavish sofas and armchairs. On one of these sofas sat an old lady reading a book and in the armchair nearest a huge fireplace at the end of the room sat an old man who was dozing peacefully. He started awake just as the woman shut her book upon hearing our entrance.

'I'm back mother, father. I've brought company. This is Lily and she said she's got some news for us.'

'Well child?' the old lady said rather haughtily.

'Umm…my mu-mother died last month and I-'

'I don't see how this has anything to do with us.' She snapped whilst the old man looked confused. Only Uncle George understood, being the only one who knew who I was. He was looking into his hand and shaking slightly.

'Her name was Martha Evans but before she changed her name she was called Cynthia Bowers. As her daughter, she asked me in her Will to tell her parents and brother so here I am.'

'Cynthia's daughter? You're Cynthia's daughter?' I nodded. I was losing patience with the woman who was technically my grandmother.

'She wanted you to know and-'

'If it's money you want-' the old man began and that was my tipping point.

'You think it's money I want?' I asked icily. 'I only came here to tell you of her death and that is all!'

'Don't kid me girl!' the old lady said harshly.

'I was following one her last requests and that is all.' I said calmly. Control, I needed control. 'I can see why she left. Gooday.' Turning swiftly around, I walked purposely from the room and from the house. Never. Never, never, never had I been so offended. Not when people called me a Mudblood and not when Potter said something offensive to me.

I was halfway down the lane when I heard someone shout behind me.

'Lily! Lily wait!' Uncle George called. He jogged after me. 'Those old sods may want nothing to do with you but you're my niece too. Listen, the night Cindy ran away, I said some pretty awful things about her. I'd always been slightly bitter of how rebellious she was but now she was completely abandoning me and I hated her for it. She'd never done what our parents wanted her to do and never been what they wanted her to be either. So, that left me to be there absolutely perfect child. Because of her, I could do anything that wasn't exactly what my parents wanted. If she'd only disobeyed in some things but not in others, then I would have had a leeway to be who I wanted. But no and when she ran away, I lost any hope of being free. I had to be the immaculate heir because Cindy wasn't. I had to make up for everything Cindy did wrong.

I was bitter, so the night she ran away all that bitterness came out. I realised she was abandoning me and leaving me and being free herself. I never wrote when she wrote to me because I was ashamed of the things I'd said. She never stopped writing and I kept every single one of her annual letters. She'd tell me everything that had happened that year by her and I remember how happy she always sounded in those letters. I don't want to abandon you Lily or Petunia if she doesn't mind. I'd love to meet your dad because I know he made Cindy happy. John never ceased to amaze me in her letters. I'm not my parents and you are my family. I'm not ashamed of you unlike them.'

'Thanks.' He smiled sadly. 'I'd better get to the station.'

'Yes of course. Perhaps I'll write to your father.' I waved in farewell and headed back to Seldeton Station.

* * *

New Year's Eve was not the epitome of excitement as anticipated by my friends in all their letters but rather dull. I imagined for them it would most likely be fun but my area had no fireworks so it turned into a normal evening. Dad was already in bed and I was in the kitchen doing the dishes. The clock on the wall read one minute past midnight meaning the New Year had already arrived.

1976…I supposed I was supposed to be making New Year's Resolutions but I had none so I didn't. I thought about what was to come in the New Year.

Mary's baby being born was something. A good thing and I was interested to see how much Andrew would freak out when she eventually went into labour. There was a year ahead of transformations for poor Remus. Not such a good thing. OWLs. That was another event. Also, not a good thing.

'So we start after Christmas?' a voice at the back of my head said extremely loudly. What? For a second I looked around the kitchen, certain that someone else had just spoken to me.

'Yes. If nothing happens before then it would be best.' Another voice in my brain answered. Ummm, okaaaay?

'Why?' Yes, third voice in my brain, why did nothing have to happen before Christmas? If someone hadn't done any revision for our OWL yet they would regret it.

'You serious? You sure you've go' a brain Bulstrode?' I've actually asked myself that question many times. Not anyone else obviously. Such opinions were best unvoiced.

'To lull them into a false sense of security, that's why.' How could anything be lulled into feeling safe by nothing happening before Christmas. Was the lack of Father Christmas scary for some people once the 25th had passed?

'Yeah, listen to Snape.' Sev? What did Sev have to do with anything?  
My own voice drifted into my mind. 'he's got jam on his toast and it's red - like blood - which obviously means he's going to kill someone.' My voice sounded echoing and I remembered when I'd said it I'd been joking. Was Sev going to kill someone? What? No! Stupid Lily.

'We'd better get out of here before someone finds us. We all remember the mission and plan?' Why did it matter if I was found? I was at home in my kitchen. Where were these voices coming from? I shut my eyes and tried to think. The feeling of running through eerie candle lit corridors came to me and in my mind I saw Sirius and I removing spells that made us invisible. The conversation the two of us had overheard!

But did it mean anything? I mean they could have been talking about a prank. The Marauders probably held similar conversations themselves. Yeah, just a prank.  
'…some people would call you naïve…' I heard Uncle George say over everything else my head had been saying. The other voices whispered their sentences again and again but Uncle George spoke loudly over the rest. 'Naïve' repeated itself louder still.

I was going mad.

I needed to clear my head so I began closing my mind. I usually practiced this before going to bed and could do it whenever. Except when an emotion was too strong for me to remove. I still had a bit to go before I could remove all consuming grief and so forth.

Once my mind was closed and I had rid myself of all emotion, I walked into the hall and took my coat off the hanger. I placed it on myself, put my shoes on, opened my front door and stepped outside. From the outside landing, I placed my right foot on a large piece of metal that had been hammered into the wall. My hands held onto another piece higher up the wall and I pushed myself up. These pieces of metal were a kind of way up onto the roof which my dad had installed years ago. I remembered him putting them in after one winter where there had been an increase in the amount of times pigeons had tried to build a nest in the chimney. It happened so frequently, that dad built this way up so he didn't have to get out his ladder he wanted to unblock the chimney.

I reached the top of the roof and sat down on the flat part behind the chimney stack. From my position, I could see over the rooftops of Cokesworth and see the whole of my home city. The streets were silent and nothing moved. Only the occasional flicker of a streetlamp or the movement of a single car disrupted the calm. Snow still cloaked the world I knew and grew up in; it looked the same as it had when I'd first come up onto the roof. Time had gone by since my first visit to the skyline of Cokesworth. I'd been 7 then and I'd also been alone. Time had gone by but it hadn't waited for me to be ready. I'd had no troubles at 7 years old. Mum was still alive and well then, Tuney and I still got on well, I hadn't known Sev although I'd known Eileen, I hadn't known about magic and I hadn't cared about the future. I'd lived in the present and never once worried about the future or regretted the past. When I looked at Maggie's kids, I envied them. No troubles at all. They were unaware of money struggles and unaware of the problems their world had.

Me? I had troubles. Not as bad as everyone else's but I had them. Then again, I always felt like I had everyone else's troubles too. There was nothing I could do about some and yet everything I could do about others. I always felt obligated to solve the issues people had and sometimes I wondered if some people expected me to. In my opinion, I was slightly useless to everyone.

I picked up some of the snow and watched it melt in my hand before sighing and returning my gaze to hushed world around the island that was my roof.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. No more updates until the 8** **th** **so I'm really sorry. Did you see what I was getting at with the chapter having a bit to do with Sirius and not just with the last bit.**

 **Are you excited for Lily's return to school? I know I am. A new term which means more time for Marauders and friends. I'll probably have a bit more on just James soon and most likely from his perspective. Some Remus bonding time is in order so that will also turn up.**

 **Also, I was thinking earlier today about the Incident that happens in almost every Jily fanfic that has the end of 5** **th** **year in it. I had an idea for the storyline including that event. It does mean I'm going to be altering the circumstances slightly. I mean, everything that Harry sees in the pensive still happens but it's from Lily's perspective and I changed her internal views. Well, we didn't technically know them before but we could assume she voiced them. Everything said will still be the same. That's a promise.**

 **Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**

 **Please Review :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **A/N: It's been a long time since I last posted so hopefully I'll get back into the rhythm of it soon. I was re-reading the last few chapters to remind me of stuff that needs to happen and I decided to read it aloud. I put on voices for each of the characters and that helped re-imagine the conversations. The voices made me laugh at some of the things I'd written which is kind of bad. I mean I wanted those conversations to be slightly funny but I laughed at my own work. That's like laughing at my own joke.**

 **ANYWAY, I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. I also hope you like this next chapter. Although I know the general story line, writer's block is an issue but I shall plough through.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The first day back after the Christmas holidays was always a bad one. Not in the sense that bad events were a given occurrence but that no one was ever in the mood for school. Well, not most people anyway. I definitely could be classed as a swot but even I dislike the first day back. I mean, who wants to sit in lessons all day when they haven't been doing that for the past two weeks?

The transition from holidays and relaxation to work, work and more work was what made it the worst. Being thrown in the deep end of a pool whilst still being half asleep could probably equate to this situation. Despite my lack of excitement, I was still to be found eating my breakfast at 6.30 am. The Gryffindor Quidditch Team had had an early morning practice due to Andrew's inspiration for a new training programme over the holidays. Needless to say, none of his fellow teammates shared the enthusiasm of their Captain. There had been quite the uproar from Marlene when Andrew had informed her of the practice happening at 5.30 in the morning. Sirius was just as displeased and Potter had looked as though he might hit Andrew over the head with a mallet when the news reached him.

Now the whole team trouped through the front doors and into the Great Hall. Marlene spotted me and immediately sat down opposite me. Sirius sat down next to me and Potter opposite him. All three looked tired out of their wits so I bit back any vocal greeting I had been about to say. Instead I opted for a wave of the hand.

The sight before me was quite hilarious as I was surrounded by Quidditch players who all looked as though they were just waking up for the first time in one hundred years. In the middle of them all sat the bright and chipper Andrew, who I guessed had been up since about 4.30. He was so alive and everyone else looked so drained which gave him the appearance of a cartoon character in the midst of a load of ghosts. He ate his breakfast in a cheerful manner whilst his teammates grumbled around him.

'Lily, please kill me.' Mumbled Marlene into her cereal. 'Everything aches. Just tell McGonagall I died or something and I can skip first period.' I chuckled to myself and fished inside my school bag. I still had the three 'Wake Me Up' potions in my bag from the last full moon. They were unused and had been lying at the bottom of my bag since before Christmas. Luckily, they couldn't go off. I had my bag with me due to a desire to head to library and stay there until my first lesson. There was a book which I had wanted to check something in and I knew that my mind would not be put at ease until I had done so.

Me being me handed them to Marlene, Sirius and Potter. Honestly, I could have watched them suffer for a little longer but no. I had to feel empathetic and try and end their suffering.

'Thanks Lily.' Sirius said and he winked at me before downing his potion. Potter smiled gratefully and followed suit. Marlene drank it and then looked suspiciously at the three of us.

'Why exactly do you have three bottles of this stuff?'

'I thought you guys might need something to stop you falling asleep in class.' I answered smoothly. Sirius and Potter both smirked at each other.

'Is this something you normally carry around?'

'On occasion. It's quite helpful at times.' Sirius coughed loudly though it sounded quite similar to a laugh.

'You're the best Lily!' Marlene said beaming and she looked fully awake. I smiled at her complete change from suspicion to delight. Marlene was definitely the least girly next to me out of my girlfriends. I appreciated having someone less girly around but Marlene was still keen to partake in makeovers and the like. Part of the eagerness probably came from the chance of seeing me in an uncomfortable state, which she found hilarious, and because she could then laugh at all the different products Alice and Mary used without being yelled at due to it being early morning. Admittedly, she did wear makeup but not quite to the level of complexity of Mary and Alice.

The other three began discussing Quidditch and I zoned out. During this exit of the conversation, I spotted a Daily Prophet lying a few seats away from me. It lay crumpled on the seat and I picked it up quickly. I had nothing to do whilst eating my breakfast so reading the Daily Prophet would be my only form of entertainment. The Daily Prophet's front cover was of a man I recognised to be Damocles Belby. This man had spoken to Slughorn on the night of the Christmas party. I knew him to be a potioneer who had been taught by Slughorn and according to Potioneer's Piece (a magazine written for those interested in potions which Slughorn often gave me a copy of the latest release) he had been working on a potion to cure lycanthropy. It was quite a task and I felt it unlikely he could cure it without finding something to soothe the ailments of it first. I was still curious, however, to see what the article was about so I read it.

 **An Article About Mr Damocles Belby Posted in the Daily Prophet Written by Rachel Shunpike:**

 _For the past five years Damocles Belby, 38, has been working on the cure for lycanthropy. Although many doubted his success, he has now announced that he is close to perfecting the 'Wolfsbane Potion' which is a potion that causes the werewolf to transform on the full moon without losing control of their own brain. The main ingredient is Wolfsbane otherwise known as Monkshood but most commonly named Acconite. This potion is not quite what Belby set out to achieve but it is most likely the first step to a whole new world of potion making._

 _I ask myself, as the one and only Mrs Rachel Shunpike, what could possibly inspire a man like Damocles Belby to invent such a potion? To answer this question, I took a visit to Belby's residence. I knock on the door and am immediately greeted by a beaming man who is of course Damocles Belby himself. His first action after inviting me in is to take my coat and hang it up. Then the two of us head into his living room. Now he leaves me to make tea and tells me to make myself at home. I use this time to get an idea of the man. His mantelpiece has many pictures of himself with a pretty woman of about his age. There are pictures of them in their Hogwarts uniform, Belby in Ravenclaw uniform and the woman in Slytherin uniform, and the two look so blissfully happy. There are also pictures of the two on holiday all around the world. Both look so unimaginably happy and of course the moving pictures are messing around with one another. In one of the pictures of them at Hogwarts, the pretty woman has stolen Belby's tie and he is chasing her for it. The two couldn't have been more than 17 when this photograph was taken._

 _My eyes fall now on the two at a wedding. Belby has fallen asleep on the woman's lap whilst she tries not to laugh because of the snoring man on her lap. It clearly isn't their wedding but the two most definitely resemble a couple. My suspicions are confirmed by the next photograph of the two in front of a wedding arch. The now confirmed Mrs Belby leaves the photo frame for a moment to return with a piece of cake which she then squashes in her husband's face. Belby wipes his face clean and just like the two when at Hogwarts he chases her around the picture._

 _Present day Belby returns with a tray of biscuits and tea. The two of sit down and I get to work with my questions. I ask about his inspiration for the potion and- continued pg 4 column 3…_

I knew he wouldn't have been able to cure lycanthropy! However, I didn't gloat for long when an idea came to me. Although the potion was clearly unfinished, it could be finished. If I somehow got my hands on his present instructions and ingredients, I could alter and change them until it worked. If Belby beat me to and completed the potion first, then I would simply use his completed guide but it couldn't hurt to try. It was for Remus' sake and therefore necessary.

How to get the instructions though? That was a question I had. Who had enough connections to go around to Belby's house without looking suspicious and then make a copy of the notes without getting caught? I looked up the table and my eyes fell on Sirius and Potter.

Brilliant!

Deciding to ask them later due to Marlene's presence, I excused myself from the table and headed back to Gryffindor Tower to quickly brush my teeth before running off to the library. When I reached the library, it was 7.00 am and I rushed in. Madame Pince, the librarian, smiled slightly at me when I entered and I returned it. Then I headed straight to the section on dark creatures. The books before me were all far too first year DADA creatures instead of werewolves and such. I supposed the restricted section might have something on werewolves but I had been in it before when I'd first found out Remus was a werewolf and found nothing helpful. That time I'd snuck into the restricted section at around midnight in an attempt to find something I could do to help him as well as understand what he went through every full moon.

I decided asking Madame Pince might be a good idea, so I made my way to her desk where she was checking out a timid-looking first year's book. Once the small child had left, she turned to me.

'Can I help you, Miss Evans?' she asked after noticing I had no books. I subtly glanced around to check no one could overhear us before I answered.

'I was wondering if there were any more books on werewolves than those in the restricted section.'

She didn't look suspicious of the fact that I knew some of the contents of the restricted section despite never having a note that gave me permission to enter it. Then again, I had helped her on three separate occasions to re-catalogue the contents of the library. I waited for her response and tried to read her expression. She looked pensive for a moment before turning her gaze beadily onto mine. I got the impression she was sizing me up and wondering if she should tell me something or not.

'Yes. Yes there are.' She replied simply.

'Oh, may I look at them…if that's alright.' Once again, Madame Pince was silent for a moment before answering.

'Come back after school. I'll have them ready by then.' And that was that. I thanked her and headed back through the shelves to find the book I had originally wanted to check something in.

* * *

All through the school day I had been in a frenzy of agitation to see the books Madame Pince was getting out for me. I got the impression that they were books I had never even seen before and I had catalogued every book in the library as well as read them all. Reading every single book in the library had been my goal since first year and I had managed it last year. The books in the restricted section had been a challenge to get my hands on but I snuck in every single time the same way I had when looking for books on werewolves the first time. The trick with the books was to stroke their spines because that way they opened of their own accord and didn't scream that there was an intruder. I'd got the idea when I read a book about writing a wizarding novel which mentioned a book called 'The Monster Book of Monsters' (this book acted like a monster). The book I had read had talked about how to capture your readers' attention and imagination by enchanting the cover to reflect themes of your novel. Then it mentioned 'The Monster Book of Monsters' and how to open it as an example. Another spell I had learnt in that book, although irrelevant to me in any aspect, was how to enchant certain pages in your novel to produce a noise. This spell meant you could place a song in those particular pages or the sounds of the forest or screaming or well, any sound really. I'd come across this effect in a book I'd read in the library called 'The Watcher'.

'The Watcher' was a book about the creator of a planet called Keskora and his attempt to save it. Basically, the people who lived on the planet were always at war so he creates a hero to reconcile them. This hero has two companions and one of them is killed at one point. The page where the companion dies begins to play a really sad but beautiful melody as the other characters weep around them.

Wow, Lily, what a tangent.

The bell to signal the end of lessons came and I practically jumped out of my seat. I'd just had a theory lesson in potions which was very interesting but I was eager to get to the library. Sirius, Potter and Sev all looked at me bewildered as I began packing up at the speed of light. Quickly, I handed my work into Slughorn and almost sprinted out of the dungeon. Admittedly, I didn't exactly sprint because that way I would have lost all my dignity. It took me in total about five minutes to reach the library and when I did I was met by the amused smile of Madame Pince.

'I'm here for the books.' I said in a rush.

'Yes, of course.' She answered and signalled for me to follow her. I did just that and to my surprise we didn't go to her desk and simply pick up a pile of books on werewolves. Instead she led me to the back of the library and to the row of shelves that lined the back wall. On this back wall, there was one section of wood that wasn't covered by books. This had always confused me as to why they couldn't just have built a longer book shelf. Madame Pince walked up to this bit of wall and said to it quietly 'Mythology' and it twisted itself to form a door. I stared at the newly formed door and then at Madame Pince who smiled me before opening the door. She indicated that I should enter and so I did. I heard her enter also and shut the door. As the two of us stood there, little floating balls of bronze light lit themselves to reveal the room before us.

In front of us stood a great silvery tree that twisted up towards the ceiling. There was a hollow at the bottom of the tree in which a bench had been carved into with elaborate engravings. Behind the bench was a painting of two patronuses racing one another. On closer inspection, the patronuses were of an eagle and a snake. The two seemed to complement one another perfectly. The room in which the tree grew was circular and arched high above me. The ceiling was the same as the Great Hall and reflected the sky outside. The walls were covered in bookshelves and balconies and ladders to help you reach the books which were higher up. These were all made of a pearly white wood that seemed to reflect some of the warm glow that came off the floating lights.

I breathed out deeply.

'This is the library of Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw. Rowena Ravenclaw began the Hogwarts library alone but she and Salazar Slythernin began this one together. They got on well with one another and both had a great passion for knowledge and learning. This library has been continued by headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts since its discovery but is kept secret. As the librarian, I have been give the responsibility of caring for it and also the honour of sharing it with students I trust. You wish to find books on werewolves to help Mr Lupin, I believe. The books in here mostly comprise of ancient and or rare literature which may help you. I have not read the books in here so I cannot say how helpful they are but I have catalogued them. This is a list of titles that may be of use to you. Miss Evans, you may come here as often as you wish and I will let you know if the password changes. You may tell Mr Lupin of here and no one else. I will leave you to it. The bell can be heard from in here so you're save to use this library before school and during break and lunch without getting in trouble for being late to class.'

'Thank you very much, Madame Pince.' I said as she turned and left. She left the list on a desk that was near the door and I walked over to it. Carefully, I placed my things on it and picked up the list. Today had been a homework free day which meant I had all the time in the world to spend in here. Looking down at the list of titles, I set to work and after finding one decided to read it before looking at another. The books on the list were all, as far as I could tell anyway, all in the same section which was incidentally a section tilted 'Lycanthropy'. The section contained many more books than were on the list but I could see why. The other books were in different languages but I knew that I could translate them if I needed to.

The first book was proving useless for finding out things I needed for altering the Wolfsbane potion. Yes, the information I was learning would be great for my Defence Against the Dark Arts essay on werewolves which would likely turn up later as an assignment but not for what I wanted to do. Placing this book back in the shelf I picked up the one adjacent to it. This book was in German and was written by a man who, according to the blurb, had a brother who was a werewolf. I had taught myself German and was intensely grateful that I had never given up as I delved deeper into the book. The author wrote about his attempts to cure his brother and the many close shaves he had had due to his ongoing trials of things to help his brother. It was a fascinating read and the writing style of the author was one which I enjoyed reading. The volume was thick so I decided to take it with me and read it in my dormitory. I showed Madame Pince which book I had borrowed and although she was surprised she agreed that I could take it.

I left the library and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. Pulling back a tapestry to reveal a secret passage way, I walked through it. This was a shortcut to the Tower. I walked down the passage without meeting anyone for a few minutes until I was metres away from the exit. As I was about to step out of the end of the passage, I heard someone walking close by the exit. I saw immediately that it was James Potter so I drew back. As I drew back, I felt something briefly touch my hand. It felt like something had just fallen and knocked my hand as it fell. He looked slightly saddened in his expression and me being me I immediately got the urge to comfort him. I always hated seeing people upset and I would always feel slightly responsible for the persons hurt meaning I felt compelled to make them feel better. Because of this, my stupid feet stepped out and revealed me. Then my mouth decided to join the 'let's all ruin Lily's life' gang.

'Potter? Are you alright?' I asked softly. He jumped a little but turned to face me.

'Yes.' He answered curtly. We stood facing each other in silence for a moment and then at the same time noticed that the top button of my blouse had fallen off. Well, that explained the thing that knocked my hand earlier. His gaze remained on that spot for a little too long before he returned to eye level. I raised my hand awkwardly to the point of my blouse that now was minus a button and held the two pieces of material together. With an even more awkward smile I cleared my throat.

'I'd argue that you're not alright.'

'Evans, I'm fine.'

'Positive?'

'Positive.'

'Fine. Don't be truthful. You look like you need a hug but I'm not really in a position to do so and I hate giving or receiving hugs.' I mean I did hug people it just wasn't my cup of tea.

'Well, if it's such a discomfort then we just have to do it.'

'Potter, I don't think…' and he'd hugged me. It wasn't bad but I felt as though I was doing something forbidden. We broke apart pretty quickly and I noticed at once that Potter's previous expression had lightened up a little. 'You heading to the common room too?' I asked and he nodded. 'Well, we can walk together.'

We did walk in silence and once again it was uncomfortable. I couldn't shake off the feeling that Potter had looked at my chest more than once in our conversation. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I hated my chest more than usual at this moment and my blouse as well.

'Sooo.' I said slowly. 'How likely is it that Gryffindor will win the Quidditch cup?' Wow, sometimes I was so awkward. Potter chuckled.

'Good. Our line up's pretty strong and we've already beat Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw shouldn't be too hard and Slytherin won't be either. Andrew's a good Captain. He'll make us win.' At least he was playing along. 'What about you Evans? Rooting for a Hufflepuff victory? I mean, they're not completely out the running.' There was strangely a bitter undertone to his last few statements but I couldn't think for why.

'Well, as uninterested as I am in Quidditch, I don't think I'm allowed to not want Gryffindor to win.'

'How can you not like Quidditch? Quidditch is the best sport in the world.'

'Really?' I asked amused. Football, football, football!

'Yes.' He answered and I raised an eyebrow. 'I don't understand how you can't see the brilliance of it. I've seen you in the crowd at matches and seriously Evans? Everyone else is cheering like crazy and you're sitting reading a book. READING! At a Quidditch match.'

'We can't all find entertainment in watching people fly around.'

'It's not just that. You learn all sorts from Quidditch. Strategy, perseverance and co-ordination.'

'Pursuing a flying ball teaches you nothing but how to pursue a flying ball.' I said quietly as we reached the portrait hole. I gave the password and the two of us scrambled through. Well, I scrambled because I was short and Potter stepped because he was a bloody giant compared to me. Okay, not a giant but he was still tall.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Posting is going back to normal. I hope you liked that chapter. It was kind of just a shift into the events after Christmas. I realised that I planned to only have about 10 chapters for 5** **th** **year and the same for 6** **th** **year before a more detailed 7** **th** **year. Well, plans change and I'm sticking with the pace I'm at now.**

 **I feel like I need more arguments between Lily and James but I quite like them getting along. I don't want them to fight over something stupid but don't worry there will be an argument at some point.**

 **Please review :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

 **A/N: We enter again into Jily land. Are you excited? I'm excited. I thought I'd have some bonding time with friends in this chapter. You know, something cheerful and happy.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

Mary and I walked down the Charms corridor at the end of the school day with the destination of Professor McGonagall's office in mind. During Charms, we had each received a note saying we were to go to her office at the end of the day. I guessed that it had something to do with Mary's pregnancy.

'Did you know Bertha broke up with Sam Davis?' Mary asked but she didn't wait for a reply. 'Apparently, he said she was too annoying to date and Bertha overshared their relationship. I feel sorry for the bloke. I mean, dating Bertha Jorkins isn't exactly fun. She probably stopped in the middle of sex to write down what she was telling Rita about it later. You know with that note book of hers…'

'Mary!' I said in a slightly disgusted. 'I'm going to have nightmares. That was way to visual.'

'Don't deny it's truth though. Babes, you and I both know that's happened at least once.'

'Please don't.' I moaned at her and she laughed.

'I bet he had to go reeeally slowly so that she could write it all down. Hey!' I elbowed her in the arm. 'You can't do that to me! I'm preggers remember.'

'Not in your arm you're not.' I quipped and Mary pouted.

'How about we talk about Potter?'

'How about we don't?'

'Too bad.' She answered, folding her arms. 'I heard he got cornered by Freya McMillan. AND do you know what happened?'

'No, but I bet I will in a sec.' I grumbled. Mary ignored me.

'Well, she forces herself on him and you know starts snogging his face off. But Potter's reaction was definitely surprising.'

'Oh, was it?' I said with mock excitement.

'Yes, it was.' Mary replied doggedly. 'He pushes her away and-'

'Wow. Incredible story. So, moving.' I mimed applauding Mary and she shot me a glare before continuing with her ever so fascinating retelling.

'So, he pushes her away and says "Sorry, I like someone else."' She glanced at me as though waiting for a gasp of shock as her story hit its climax. As most people could imagine, she received no such enthusiasm from my end.

'And did he say who this ever so miraculous, amazing and mysterious someone was? Or did he leave us at this moment with this revelation of a statement?' I asked in grouchy tones. This time it was Mary who did the arm elbowing.

'No, he didn't.' she said huffily.

'Oh dear. What a shame. Never mind.' I stated.

'Who d'you think it is? Well, obviously not Freya and probably not-'

'Why don't you just ask him?'

'Because he'd answer me.' Mary scoffed.

'Can't you just be happy to live in the dark? What if it turns out to be you? Will you be happy then?'

'No. Course not. Andrew and I are forever. Besides, Potter's an absolute wanker.'

'So, will you leave it alone? I'm sure if Potter has his eye on someone, he doesn't want whole bloody world to know.'

Mary huffed and I smiled triumphantly. Honestly, gossiping was not my favourite pass time. We had reached Professor McGonagall's office and I knocked on the door. It opened at once and the two of us entered. Professor McGonagall sat behind her desk and observed us in the way that only Professor McGonagall could. The pair of us stood slightly nervously in front of our Head of House.

'I was wondering how the pregnancy has been so far, Miss McDonald?' she asked.

'Alright, I suppose. I've got nothing to compare it to but nothings gone wrong as far as I can tell.'

'Very good. Your next appointment is in 3 weeks I believe.'

'Yes.' Mary nodded as she spoke.

'The father? How is Mr Wood faring?'

'Oh, he's fine. Well, he's been slightly nervous the past few days but that's probably cause of the Quidditch match next week. Although, it's Slytherin vs Ravenclaw so I'm not quite sure why he's concerned.'

I smiled at the floor. Andrew had confided in me that he was planning to propose to Mary at the weekend. True, they were only 16 and 17 (Mary's birthday was in September and Andrew's in November) but what they felt for each other was deeper than just attraction. Well, that's how Mary always described her relationship with Andrew anyway.

'And what about the families. Everything well in that area?'

'Oh yes.' Mary said beaming. 'Both delighted and hugely supportive. I couldn't ask for them to be any better. I was a bit worried for how Andrew's parents would react but they were over the moon. Mum and Dad are just looking forward to a grandkid so it's fine on my side too.'

'That's good to hear. Professor Dumbledore wished me to inform you that your rooms are ready for furnishing. You can move in once the baby is born.'

'Thank you. Thank you so much.' Mary gushed. Professor McGonagall nodded. I wondered what exactly I was doing here because I wasn't really needed for the delivering of this news. As though she had read my thoughts, Professor McGonagall then looked straight at me.

'I'd like a quick word with Miss Evans. Perhaps you could wait outside, Miss McDonald.' Mary nodded and left practically skipping with excitement. Once she'd shut the door behind her, I felt oddly uneasy. Professor McGonagall always made me feel slightly nervous.

'Professor?' I asked cautiously.

'Miss Evans, it has come to my attention that there is a first year who is not settling into Hogwarts at all well. It has been a whole term and I am concerned of their happiness here. As a teacher and Head of House it is my duty to make sure all students are happy here and I take responsibility if one is not so. I believe that a mentor is exactly what they require and I also believe that you would be a good mentor for them. Miss Evans, you possess the ability to understand people and be empathetic with quite a lot of ease so I feel that you will be good for the position. I trust you not to misuse the power this gives you. No forcing of opinions is allowed but I trust you not to do so. I have every confidence you will succeed in this, Miss Evans. Your first meeting has been arranged for tomorrow evening at 7pm in my classroom. Are you available at this time?'

'Yes, Professor.' I answered.

'Then you are dismissed. Any serious issues you may discuss with me and I will summon you to my office to discuss progress in future.' I nodded.

'Have a nice evening, Professor.' I said and left the office. Mary was waiting outside and grinned when she saw me.

'Well, did we just survive another visit to McGonagall's or didn't we?' she asked and looped her arm through mine.

'I believe we did.' I answered, mirroring her grin. The two of us headed arm in arm for the Great Hall and dinner.

'So, do you know why Andrew's acting weird?' Mary pondered thoughtfully.

'No idea.' I said, smiling to herself.

'I suppose we'll never know. We women spend so much time trying to understand men and yet they'll never truly make any sense and will always be strange creature.'

'Here, here.' I answered and mimed raising a glass. 'I toast to never understanding men.' I said laughing slightly.

'To never understanding men.' Mary echoed and she too raised an imaginary glass. We pretended to chink them together and down whatever drink we had in the non-existent container.

The two of us laughed together and must have looked slightly tipsy as we made our way to where Marlene and Alice were already sitting in the Great Hall. Certainly, Alice thought so.

'What did McGonagall give you two?' she asked as we sat down and we lapsed into even louder laughter.

* * *

I had arrived early to the Transfiguration classroom for my meeting with the first year I was supposed to be mentoring. In a note I had received this morning, I found out that the first year was a Gryffindor by the name of Amy Johnson. That was all I knew about her and I was intensely concerned of how awkward the meeting could end up.

7pm arrived and the door of the classroom opened slowly. A small, timid-looking face peered round the door. Upon noticing me, the face withdrew and then a whole person shuffled out from behind the door. Amy was small. Very small. She had honey coloured skin and black hair which she wore on lots of individual braids. Her eyes were large and at present very scared looking.

'Hello.' I said kindly. 'You must be Amy.' She nodded and I indicated for her to take a seat at one of the tables. She chose one nearest the window and I pulled up a chair, which I placed opposite her. I sat down in this chair and wondered how to start conversation. 'How's school been so far?'

Wow. Great question, Lily.

'Alright.' She whispered into her hands.

'How are you finding lessons?' She was silent for a long time and then looked me in the face. I could tell she was deciding whether to be honest or not. I didn't prompt her because I knew that she wouldn't say anything if I did.

'Not bad. Potions is q-quite difficult.'

'I could tutor you if you like.' Her large eyes widened.

'You would?' she asked timidly.

'Of, course. That's what mentors are for. To help you.' Apparently, this was news to her because her eyes widened further still.

'Y-you don't think I'm s-s-stupid for being bad at potions?'

'No, of course not. We all have things we can't do. Take me for example, I can't fly on a broom to save my life.' To her and my surprise, she let out a giggle. Amy clapped a hand to her mouth and looked at me fearfully but I smiled at her so she slowly removed it.

'I like flying.' She said shyly.

'Well, there you go. You have a talent in flying. Not everyone does, you know.'

'James Potter's amazing at flying. I wish I could fly like him.'

'I'm sure you're just as good, if not better.' I said encouragingly. She shook her head.

'He's good at everything. I can't be better.' Amy answered and looked at the floor.

'If it makes you feel any better, he's not the best at potions.'

'Really?'

'Yes, really. And I should know. He's been exploding his potions next to me for almost 4 and a half years.'

'Wow.'

'Just don't tell him I said that.' I said, grinning cheekily. She giggled again.

'I won't. I've never spoken to him before so it doesn't matter anyway.'

'But just in case. His ego might not handle it so well.' I paused. 'So, what hasn't gone so well so far this school year?'

Amy looked at her hands again as she answered.

'In potions, everyone laughs at me because I can't do anything. I'm not top of the class in anything either so everyone acts like I'm stupid. Flying doesn't count to them a-a-and I haven't got any friends either. I can't stick up for myself because I'm too shy so everyone picks on me for that too.' She sounded close to tears so I reached across the desk and put my hand on her arm. The people in her year sounded like a load of little shits.

'Well, you're not stupid so never in a million years believe it. As someone who can't fly for toffee, I would argue that flying takes a lot of skill to do. And with you being shy? We'll work on that. Give you a bit of confidence alongside the potions tutoring. Yeah?'

She nodded.

'Thank you.' She mumbled. 'For listening to me, I mean.'

'You're welcome. Well, I reckon that's enough for one night. I need to stay behind and write some stuff up for Professor McGonagall so you'll probably want to head to the common room without me.'

'Okay.' Amy answered. She turned to leave but as she reached the door, I called her back.

'Remember, you can come and find me any time you want to talk. We'll arrange another meeting soon. Night.' I waved at her and she left. Well, I wasn't one hundred percent sure I was a good mentor but to be honest, I was pretty sure I would enjoy the meetings with Amy. She was lovely and I was determined to help her.

* * *

The paper work about how the first meeting had gone took me a little while so when I headed back to the common room it was 9pm. Curfew. But I had permission to walk through the corridors at this time and that permission came straight from Professor McGonagall. She'd told me in the note sent this morning that I might be away from the common room until after curfew and had therefore put a written permission in the note for me to be in the corridors later than 9pm.

The corridors were slightly darker than they would have been an hour earlier and one corridor in particular was dark enough for me to light my wand. Lumos, I thought and immediately a blue ball of light formed at the tip of my wand. I wandered through the corridor and reached the end only to turn onto a terrible sight.

A student lay slumped against the wall of this more brightly lit corridor in a pool of their own blood. The scarlet liquid's source was not to be seen from where I stood but I guessed the person might have some large wounds on their back. I rushed over to them and put my ear to their mouth. They were still breathing but it sounded raged and weak. On closer inspection, I also deemed them male and probably a second or third year.

'Hello? My name's Lily Evans. Can you hear me?' I said loudly into the person's ear.

'Yes.' Whispered a shaky voice in response. It sounded as though it took them great effort to speak.

'I'm going to take off your shirt so I can examine you. Is that alright?' I received a small sound of assent and therefore set about removing the boy's shirt. His whole chest was slashed and his back too. In total, I counted 7 slashes. I gasped a little at the sight of them but got over the horror pretty quickly. Then I removed my school jumper so that the long sleeves didn't get in the way (my blouse was short-sleeved. 'This might hurt a bit so I need you to be brave.'

I conjured up some of my disinfecting potions which I used on the boys after their full moon excursions as well as some bandages and some essence of dittany. The cleansing potions I began dabbing on the wounds and I felt the whole boy's body wince with the stinging sensation. Once they were clean, I began pointing my wand at the gashes and tried to heal them. The first spell I tried had no effect whatsoever. Okay, I just needed to try another spell. That was all. There was no need to panic. No need at all…

I attempted another spell and again, the wounds did not heal. Third time lucky? No. The wounds did bleed less, however. I began to panic slightly. Well fine, more than slightly. Dittany! There was still the dittany. The wounds had stopped bleeding but they were still open and open to infection. I started to dab the dittany on the wounds and hoped they would heal. Nothing. And then, all of a sudden, the wounds began bleeding again. What? That did not happen to normal wounds.

It was then that I grabbed the bandages and applied pressure to each slash in turn as I wrapped them up. At first it seemed to be better but then the blood started to seep through. I tugged at my plait.

'I'm s-s-so s-s-s-sorry.' I stammered. 'N-nothings working.' Help. I needed to get help so I focused on a happy memory and conjured up Arnold. Quickly, I sent a message to Madame Pomfrey that I had found a dangerously injured student and I need her help. Then, I conjured up some blood replenishing potion which I had forgotten to do earlier. This potion I helped the boy to gulp down and tried to keep him conscious. I spoke to him about the most random things and tried to distract myself from the bandages that were now scarlet. A few minutes later and Arnold returned with Madame Pomfrey in toe.

'Miss Evans, I got your message an- oh my goodness!' she exclaimed as she took in the boy next to me. I explained, as calmly as I could, what I had tried on the boy so far. 'Right.' Madame Pomfrey said, rolling up her sleeves. 'Miss, Evans go get Professor McGonagall while I bring this young man to the hospital wing.' I nodded and sprinted off.

It took me a few seconds to regain my breath as I reached the door of Professor McGonagall's office. I knocked and to my surprise, it opened immediately. I rushed inside.

'Miss Evans, how can I- what in the name of Godric Gryffindor has happened to you?' she asked in extremely suspicious tones. I must have looked quite a sight. I mean, my white blouse was smeared all over with blood and my jumper, which I held in my hand, was drenched in blood because I'd placed it in the puddle of blood. The hem of my skirt and my black opaque tights also had blood on them as I had kneeled in blood whilst trying to heal the boy. There were also, most likely, flecks of blood on my face and blood in my braid from when I tugged at it.

'There's a student really badly injured. Madame Pomfrey brought them to the hospital wing and told me to get you.' Professor McGonagall's face went extremely stony.

'Then we must go at once.' The two of us left the office and hurried towards the hospital wing. 'That still doesn't explain your appearance, Miss Evans.' She said, sternly.

'I tried to heal them.' Was all I offered by way of an explanation. We reached the hospital wing and quickly entered. Madame Pomfrey was hovering by one of the beds and murmuring spells at the occupant lying in it. We walked quietly over.

'It's very dark magic. I can fix it and I have fixed the worst of it but it'll take a while for him to properly heal. It's lucky you got there when you did Miss Evans and I'd say that your blood replenishing potion saved him.'

'So, he'll be alright?' I asked anxiously and Madame Pomfrey nodded.

'Perhaps you should head to bed, Miss Evans.' Professor McGonagall said. 'Some rest will do you good. Poppy do you have any dreamless sleep potion left?'

'Yes, it's in the cupboard on the far right.' She answered and I went to fetch it. Then I thanked the two women and headed back to the common room. I reached the portrait hole and was met by a loud gasp from the Fat Lady. Ignoring her, I gave the password and she reluctantly swung forward.

The common room was thankfully empty so I reached the staircase to the girl's dormitory without any stares or questions. I crept into the dormitory, trying not to wake the Girls who were all sound asleep. Grabbing my pyjamas and a towel, I headed into the bathroom for a shower.

Once in bed, I shut my eyes and tried to fall asleep. The image of the boy lying in a pool of blood swam in my mind. The drained colour of his skin against the scarlet sticky liquid was not an image that would leave me quickly. He was safe now. Madame Pomfrey could heal him. My last thought before falling asleep was that I hadn't taken the dreamless sleep potion and with that, I drifted off into a dreamland filled with dripping red liquid, knives and the word 'naïve' echoing in the depths of my brain.

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I quite liked the bit with Mary and Lily because I think with the ending of this chapter you need something more cheerful at the start.**

 **Next chapter is going to be all fun and games, I'm sure. We'll see.**

 **Please Review :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

 **A/N: Well, in the last chapter things were growing tenser. This is a bit of the aftermath as well as some other stuff.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

As I entered the Great Hall for 'Second Breakfast' with the Girls, heads turned in my direction. I looked determinately at my destination, the seat next to Remus at the Gryffindor table, as I moved through the Hall. I sank into the seat and tried to ignore the staring. The Girls looked confused but didn't say anything. I began chatting to Remus and Sirius, who was sitting diagonally opposite to me, and tried to act as though there weren't people standing up to get a good look at me. The two boys spoke extremely cheerfully to me and at once I grew suspicious. Their spirit seemed woefully exaggerated and I frowned at them.

'Yeah, so I'm actually quite excited for Charms today. I mean there's nothing better than practicing silencing charms.' Remus was saying. Liar. Remus hated silencing charms and he had told me this when we'd been researching them for homework.

'Mmmmh. Course, Lily can do them already.' Sirius said grinning at me. Okay? Remus knew I could cast them. I mean, it was hard for him not to know after the endless times I had silenced Sirius whilst reading. No one disturbed me whilst reading.

'What's up?' I asked.

'Nothing…' The two of them chorused and immediately seemed more suspicious.

'You're lying.' I said at once. Remus fiddled nervously with his sleeve and Sirius became extremely interested in his bacon.

'Well, there's a rumour going around and it's about you…' Remus said to his sleeve and Sirius glanced uneasily at my face.

'And?' I asked. That would explain the staring.

'Um. Dumbledore announced this morning that there was an attack on a student and if anyone knew anything about it that they should tell him or another teacher.' Remus began.

'Then Rita Skeeter stood up and yelled "It was Lily Evans, Professor! The Fat Lady saw her covered in blood. I think it would be best if-" and then McGonagall cuts her off saying "If you sat down? Yes, Miss Skeeter, I believe it would be a good idea."' Sirius finished.

'You should have seen Dumbledore and McGonagall. They both looked furious when she yelled that. We both know Skeeter's lying but what did you do to her make her spread rumours about you?' Remus said concernedly.

'She wasn't lying. I-'

'You did attack someone!' Sirius yelled and Remus whacked him on the head with his Charms book.

'Keep your voice down!' I hissed. 'No, I didn't attack anyone but the Fat Lady did see me covered in blood.'

'What!?' Sirius practically squealed and both Remus and I rolled our eyes.

'I'll keep the story simple. I came across the attacked student and tried to heal them. Got covered in their blood and called Madame Pomfrey to help with healing them. Then, I went to bed but hadn't cleaned myself up at that point so the Fat Lady saw me covered in blood when I reached Gryffindor Tower.'

'But how did Skeeter find out?' Remus asked, confused. Sirius despairingly put his head in his hands. 'What?'

'Mooney, do you get out at all?' Sirius questioned.

'Yes!' he answered, indignantly. 'But I still don't understand how she found out.'

'Fat Lady told Violet and Violet told Skeeter.'

'Violet? You mean that painting in the room off the Hall?'

'So, he does know something.' Sirius said and Remus kicked him under the table. 'Ow!'

'Calm down you two.' I grumbled in exasperation. 'The Fat Lady's friends with Violet and Violet loves to gossip. Half the stuff Skeeter knows she knows from Violet. Violet hears all the gossip from other paintings in the castle.' I explained and Remus nodded with an expression that plainly said he was never trusting the portraits ever again.

* * *

I sat alone by the lake in the rain that had started around break time. It was Thursday. I'd finished my homework and in an attempt to avoid the staring I'd headed into the grounds. It was still light and I sat on a rock that itself sat on the side of the lake nearest the castle. The rain poured down and fat droplets of water hit the umbrella I held over my head.

The majority of Hogwarts now thought me to be a violent and cruel person who attacked innocent bystanders. Only my mates believed and knew otherwise. They were the ones I had bothered to tell my side of the story to because every other student avoided me like the plague. Mary, Alice, Marlene, Remus, Sirius and Peter had all believed me straight away and I was grateful for their confidence in me. It kept me sane whilst everyone else watched me warily, as though I was about to lash out and attack them.

The rain didn't care either way and fell on my umbrella just as it fell everywhere else. My umbrella had a few holes in it so every so often a droplet would splash onto my face. The water trickled down my face and dropped onto my lap. In essence, the rain was crying for me.

In all honesty, I wasn't as hurt about the rumours as I seemed. I was more concerned of who the actual attacker or attackers were. Who could be so cruel as to harm someone as badly as that boy had? Seven individual slashes. Seven. The image of them floated into my mind's eye. I shivered slightly and pushed them away. Who had a motive to attack the boy? Why was he attacked? Why him specifically? Was the intent that he died? I mean, he was left in that corridor. If I hadn't found him, he might have died from blood loss. Why would someone want him dead? I needed to do some digging.

'Apparently, you actually drank the blood of the boy you attacked.' A voice announced behind me, causing me to jump off the rock in shock. I turned to face the speaker and saw Tom standing there holding an umbrella above him. He was smiling at me. 'That's not even the best one.'

'Really?' I asked smiling sadly.

'Did you know that you're a descendant of this ancient group of cannibalistic wizards and witches who lived in middle-age England?' he answered chuckling.

'No. That's quite incredible considering I'm muggleborn.' I stated. Tom moved towards me with a look of concern on his usually cheerful face. He clicked down my umbrella and moved even closer so that we were both standing underneath his.

'Lupin told me what actually happened.' He said matter-of-factly. 'I believe your story.' Tom pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead. 'Frankly, I _find_ it hard to believe someone who tells me my girlfriend attacked some student. I know you'd never do something like that.'

'That's all you know.' I murmured into his chest.

'Oh really?' he laughed. 'I'll have to find some way to subdue you…' I lifted my head and looked at my boyfriend suspiciously.

'Like what?'

'I'm not sure.' He said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. Tom lowered his head and kissed my right cheek, then my left cheek, then my nose and finally my mouth. The kiss was sweet and innocent but I deepened it. He returned the kiss eagerly and more passionately. We remained like this until the pair of us needed air and had to break apart. 'Well, you've definitely cheered up.' Tom commentated, his voice a little gruffer than before. I smiled up at him and he grinned back.

Our smiling was interrupted by a deafening clap of thunder.

'We'd better go in.' I said and Tom nodded. The two of us headed back to the castle.

* * *

By the next day, the rumours had died down. I'd thought it a miracle and that no rumour from the Hogwarts rumour mill had ever vanished so quickly. Then I found out that Remus had promised to Rita Skeeter's homework for a month and Sirius had had a broom cupboard session with her so that she would get rid of the rumour. For someone who was incredible at spreading rumours she was pretty amazing at getting rid of them again.

Honestly, I had the best big brothers in the whole world. I did, however, feel extremely guilty and had got Sirius a large tube of toothpaste from the House Elves and told Remus that I would help with all the homework he had to do for Rita Skeeter. Sirius had howled with laughter when I gave him the tube of toothpaste and hugged him alongside about a million thank yous. When I'd hugged Remus, and thanked him, I told him I was doing majority of the homework Rita Skeeter got. At that, he had simply shaken his head muttering  
'It was to help you Lily not make you get a load of 7th year homework alongside your own.'

* * *

After lessons, I headed to the hospital wing to see the boy who'd been attacked. But my plan was cut short when I reached the doors into the hospital wing. The curtains were drawn tight shut over the windows in the door. That meant there would be no visitors today. I sighed and decided I would just knock and ask Madame Pomfrey how he was doing. My knock was short and for a moment I waited before it was answered. Madame Pomfrey did indeed open the door and tell me to go away. That is, until she realised who I was.

'Miss Evans! How are you? No nightmares?'

'No.' I answered hurriedly. 'How is he?' I asked, my voice lowered. Her gaze softened a little.

'Better. Thank Merlin for that. He's awake now but I think it's best to stick to no visitors until he's stronger. Of course, his parents have visited once already but that won't be very often in future. I mean, it's quite a hassle to organise the floo network for two muggles. And they're divorced which means connecting two separate muggle houses.'

'So, he's muggleborn?' I asked, thoughtfully.

'Yes.'

'You don't think that could've been the motive for his attack?' I pondered aloud. Madame Pomfrey's eyes seemed to widen slightly.

'We can't be sure of that. As much as I hate to say it, to know that there would have to be more attacks. Then we could see if all the victims had that in common. I hope, in the name of Helga Hufflepuff, that no more attacks happen. As far as we're concerned, it was most likely a stray bully who'd had an extremely bad day.'

'That's quite some bad day.' I muttered but not loud enough for Madame Pomfrey to hear. 'Bit he's definitely on the mend?' I asked concernedly.

'Definitely.' I still frowned slightly. 'I promise, Miss Evans.' She laughed and I thanked her before taking my leave. Well, I'd learned the boy was muggleborn and was convinced that had something to do with why he was attacked. I'd also guess that he'd been left to die given the state he was in when I found him. In my books, that did not equal a bully but a murderer. Had I ruined a plan by saving that boy? All I could hope for was that if there were any more attacks, there would always be more people to get help for the victims.

I needed to get a clearer view of the situation so I closed my mind. It didn't really help much with coming up with useful theories so I headed to the library which always helped me to think. Upon entering, I saw Remus dusting some of the books in the nearest bookshelf and I guessed he was helping Madame Pince. He grinned at me as I passed and I returned his grin with an extremely forced one.

Madame Pince was tidying her desk and muttering angrily to herself but was delighted when I offered to do some dusting for her. She cheerfully handed me a dark green duster and some dusting cloths alongside a comment of 'The ladder's over there.' I was short and couldn't reach the top two rows of books without a ladder. It had been a running joke between her and Remus that I needed a ladder. This joke had been running since at least 3rd year when Remus had grown a lot during the summer holidays.

I headed to the back of the library and set to work all alone in the last set of shelves in the library. The task of dusting the books was a lot more than just flicking your wand and it being done. Due to how precious the books were you had to dust each one by hand. Not only did the books need to be dusted but their shelves too which meant being surrounded by piles of books.

I worked steadily for a good two hours and had reached the top row. I was currently in the process of dusting the books and placing them one by on their shelf. The book I was dusting was titled 'Yeti's Drink Tea Too.' It was an extremely heavy volume which I had read during second year. It was a book filled with muggle and wizard theories on Yetis.

As I lifted the book onto the shelf, I suddenly became aware of how wobbly the ladder was. My movements were very slow and careful so that I didn't drop the book and break it. Cautiously, I slid it into the bookcase and let out a sigh of relief.

'Evans!' I jumped right out of my skin as Potter's voice sounded. Sadly, I was still on the ladder so it wobbled precariously and I fell off – right into Potter's arms. I jumped out of his arms immediately and straightened my uniform.

'Thanks, Potter.' I said, a little awkwardly. He shrugged as though catching 8 and a half stone girls was something he did on a regular basis.

'No problem.' We stood in silence facing one another for a good minute. I shifted uncomfortably and tugged at my plait.

'Sooo…' I said into the silence as I picked up another book to dust. 'Did you want something?'

'Not really, I was just in the area. Thought I'd say hi.'

'Um… Hi.' I began dusting the book in my hand.

'You know, Evans, you really are mega boring. I mean, you've got free time right now and you're spending it in the library. How dull can you get?'

'Mega dull according to you.' I muttered darkly but I didn't rise up to Potter's comment.

'And cleaning. Voluntary cleaning? That is the worst thing you've done so far. Including reading that book on the subconscious. By the looks of things, you're pretty used to it. What's your house like? A surgery?'

'Well, Potter I reckon my cleaning's a long shot better than yours. I'd say that's a positive.' I answered matter-of-factly.

'At least I don't need to do my own cleaning. I've got house elves for that.' he quipped and I glared at him.

'House Elves are living creatures and they have feelings too. Maybe you think they're just things that you enslave but I wouldn't expect anything else from you. Oh, and am I supposed to feel less than you cause I do my own cleaning? Heaven forbid I can function without someone else!' I snapped. Well, not rising up to Potter had flown out the window.

Potter's eyes flashed with something. Flashed was the only way I could describe it. It wasn't anger but I didn't know what it was instead.

'I don't rely on anyone!' he said indignantly.

'Really Potter? So, tell me. How many days in that perfect protected life of yours have you had a job and earnt money?'

'Well, I…'

'What about cooking? What do you usually cook? Just for you or do you share?'

'I-'

'And running a house? Can you do that?' I stormed up the wobbly ladder and placed the book in the shelf whilst Potter spluttered below.

'What about you Evans? I bet you haven't done all that.' he said smirking at me. It was the smirk that did it. The smirk that Potter had whenever he thought himself omniscient. 'Why don't you tell me all about it? Oh, wait. You can't can you? No, you can't. It's something about you and you don't tell those things do you, Evans? It's a secret isn't it?'

As I climbed back down the ladder, I knew I was about to do something stupid. Apparently, the 'Let's all ruin Lily's life' gang had returned. My hand reached for my wand and pulled it out from behind my ear. Oh, I'd wipe that smirk off that smarmy git! But all of a sudden, the gang left and I realised I'd been about to hex Potter in the library where there were loads of people to witness it and quickly pointed my wand at a paper cut on my hand. I healed it hastily and returned my wand to behind my ear. Potter looked extremely wary of me and it was good to know he felt threatened when I had my wand in my hand.

I had one book left to dust and I set about doing it whilst blatantly ignoring him. I finished it quickly and returned it to the shelf. Then I folded the ladder and began heaving it to where I'd got it from. To my disgust, Potter followed me.

'How does Clarke cope? I should ask him. I mean, you're so angry – all the time. Then again, you've got red hair so I suppose anger just comes with you. Red hair is a pretty bad thing to have. Maybe that's why McDonald's put on weight. All that comfort food she eats to deal with you.'

SLAP!

I slapped Potter right across the cheek and with such force that the sound shocked me. I stared at my hand in horror but at the same time admiration. I'd hit someone! I had no idea I could even do that. And with such force. Impressive. That went way against my morals. Then again, no one and I mean no one commented in my girlfriends' weight.

'I'm s-s-sorry!' I stammered and hurried off. Seriously? I apologised to that git? Wow, Lily. You just ruined the entire moment. Potter gave me an extremely odd look. I needed to get away and fast so I dashed down the row of books we stood in. As I reached the end, Potter called after me.

'By the way, nice pants Evans. I think they wore stuff like that in the middle ages!'

I turned scarlet and almost sprinted back to Gryffindor Tower. He'd looked up my skirt when I'd been standing up on the ladder!

'Wanker.' I muttered to myself and walked up the stairs to my dormitory. The dormitory was empty. 'Wanker!' I said a little louder. Dumping my bag on my bed, I lay down on it and kicked of my black pumps. 'Wanker!' I cursed as I stared at the canopy of my four-poster bed. 'Stupid Wanker!' I yelled at the canopy. Then I sat up and stormed over to the full-length mirror next to my wardrobe. 'STUPID WANKER!' I bellowed at my wardrobe and kicked it. It hurt a lot and I held onto my stubbed toes as I apologised profusely to the wardrobe. I wasn't mad. Definitely not mad. And yet there I was apologising to inanimate objects.

Thank goodness for the sound-proofing spell I had put on the dormitory in third year after a girl's chatting session that continued until 4 am in the morning.

I moved in front of the mirror and looked self-consciously at my hair. I pulled at the hairband at the end of my braid and it slipped off. Then I ran a hand through my hair and it fell into curly waves down my back. My hand picked up one of the locks and I looked at it in the mirror. Hideous and red – the only way to describe it. Potter was right. It was pretty bad to have red hair.

I'd never really thought myself ugly but in that moment, I really did. How I'd never seen it before was a miracle to me. My green eyes were a repulsive colour and my hair resembled wine in colour. Who thought that looked nice? My dark eyelashes looked like bloody spiders. I mean, for Pete's sake how did I ever think that was pleasant on the eyes?

* * *

I entered the common room on Friday evening and spotted Sirius lounging on a sofa next to Potter. As much as I didn't want to go near Potter again, I needed the instructions for the Wolfsbane potion. I held the article from the Daily Prophet in my hand and wandered up to the two boys. Shoving the article in Sirius' face, I stood in front of him.

'Read it.' I instructed and Potter rolled his eyes. Sirius began reading and his eyes widened.

'Is this-'

'I want it.' I cut across and pointed at the top paragraph.

'Lily, it's not finished yet. I don't think you can buy it yet.'

'I know. I want it.' I repeated.

'But how?'

'I want you to get it for me.' I said simply.

'What? I can't get it. It's not for sale yet and-'

'I don't care. You've got connections. Use them.'

'Lily, I don't think I can.'

'Then get Potter to help.' I said, indicating Potter who was watching our conversation with amusement. 'I want it.'

'But it's not finished yet.' Sirius said a little desperately. Potter simply looked like a goldfish due to him not having an inkling as to what this conversation was about.

'Well, I'll get the recipe and try and finish it myself. If Belby finishes first, then I'll get the completed thing from the shops but if I finish first then Remus will be helped sooner.'

'Lily, I just don't think-'

'I'll help you, Evans.' Potter cut in a little eagerly. For a split second I thought I saw Sirius roll his eyes but I must have imagined it.

'See, Sirius. Potter's agreed and he doesn't even know what this is about. Just say yes. I know you can get it.'

I folded my arms and watched his face intently.

'Urgh! Fine! You know I can't say no when you do that.' Sirius said in disgruntled tones.

'When she does what?' Potter asked, confused.

'Stares in a way that makes you feel like she can see into every inch of your brain. In a way that makes you feel like you can't hide anything.'

'How does that stop you from saying no?' Potter asked, still confused.

'You know what Prongs? Never mind.' He turned to me. 'Don't I get a thanks or anything?'

I grinned and hugged him tightly. As I pulled back, I turned to Potter.

'Thanks, Potter.' I said a little awkwardly.

'You're welcome Evans. By the way, what am I actually agreeing to?'

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm not a hundred percent sure what's happening next chapter so that's still something that need to happen. It'll be fine…**

 **Please Review :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

 **A/N: Wasn't James just a dumb shit in the last chapter? Honestly, I'm with Sirius on this one. He's not the nicest of blokes to Lily.**

 **This chapter? A bit of friendship stuff and general life. Nothing too bad.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise. The storyline and some of the characters, however, as entirely my own.**

 **Enjoy :)**

Mary, Alice and I sat in the Quidditch stands watching the Gryffindor Quidditch Team practice on a Saturday morning. Marlene, Kieran and Potter were speeding around the pitch in what I knew to be called a Hawk's Head Attacking Formation. There were a surprising amount of books on Quidditch in the library considering it wasn't really something that could be learnt through a book. It was at present 9am and the Team had been playing for about an hour. Mary and Alice were grumbling about how it was illegal to be up at this time on a Saturday.

'Honestly, why do they have to practise so fucking early?' Alice was asking.

'So they can torture everyone present without teachers finding them.' Came Mary's reply. 'And don't swear around the baby!' she then went on to scold.

'Your bloody baby can't hear me. I think it'll live.' Alice retorted.

'You don't know that!' Mary answered indignantly.

'Guys, can't we just change subject?' I said impatiently.

'Fine.' They agreed and we all fell silent for a moment. In the silence, we watched Marlene who was yelling at one of the beaters for pinching her butt. Kieran and Potter were trying to restrain her as Andrew attempted to calm down the situation. I smiled to myself as I noticed the look of deepest loathing that sat on Kieran's face as he looked at guy Marlene was trying to beat up. Sirius and Sam Davis were laughing at the butt-pincher who looked as though he was scared out of his wits. Evidently, he was only just realising that one did not pinch Marlene's bum. Stupid git.

'Why is it that all blokes who play Quidditch are so fit?' Alice asked into our silence.

'I'd say it's their muscles. Muscles always help with confidence. Once a guy's got confidence he's basically got the ladies buzzing around him.' Mary said thoughtfully.

'Yeah. And the hair. It's so sexy. You know? All windswept and wild.' Alice added. 'Lily, what d'you think?'

'I mean, you two made some good points but the most attractive thing is definitely when they look like they're about to lay one in their pants.' I said seriously and indicated at Mr Butt-Pincher. He deserved to have the piss taken out of him after being such a pervert. The other two began laughing hysterically. I maintained a straight face. 'It's that screwed up red face. There's nothing quite like it. It's sooooooooooo hot and honestly, the one doing it down there, he's lucky I'm up here cause if I wasn't I'd be all over him.'

The three of clutched ourselves as we laughed. We chuckled for a good two minutes before managing to calm down. Once we'd calmed down, Mary pulled a whole box of cornflakes out of her handbag and began to eat them.

'I am getting so fat. Genuinely, being pregnant makes me eat a tonne of stuff.' Mary complained and Alice and I rolled our eyes.

'I think you're supposed to eat more seeing as you're eating for two.' I said.

'But I'm putting on so much weight.' She moaned.

'Mary, you look and will always look lovely.' Alice stated. 'But on the topic of putting on weight, Bertha Jorkins has definitely got some break-up fat on her.' I groaned and hid my face in my hands.

'Serves her right for being such a bitch.' Mary answered.

'What happened to not swearing around the baby?' I asked cheekily from behind my hands and Alice snorted as Mary elbowed me.

'I'm the mum so I'm allowed.' I raised my hands in mock surrender.

'Anyway, Jorkins had it coming. I've always said she overshared her relationship, haven't I?'

'Yes, Mary.' I answered in bored tones and rolled my eyes.

'What Davis saw in her, I have no idea.' Alice admitted and Mary nodded.

'She must have been a good shag cause otherwise he wouldn't have put up with her.'

'What can you expect? Everyone knows she and Skeeter are massive slags.'

'Doesn't mean they're good in bed.' Alice said evenly. 'Just cause they do it loads…'

'True, but like I said, Davis wouldn't have stayed with her if she wasn't good at shagging.'

'Well, yeah but she obviously got something out of it too or she wouldn't be so upset about breaking up.'

'He's got to be pretty good too. Balancing her notebook at the same time and all…' The two of them snickered at Mary's statement and even the corners of my lips twitched upwards. Bertha Jorkins always carried a notebook with her for the sole purpose of writing down any big news she overheard.

'We're back to how amazing Quidditch guys are.' Alice said sighing. 'Course we don't know for sure seeing as none of us have got with Davis but-'

'I know for sure.' Mary said smirking. 'Andrew and I always have a good time. I remember this one time whe-'

'We don't the details, thank you very much.' I cut in as I placed a hand over Mary's mouth as Alice mimed throwing up over the side of the stands. Mary pulled my hand away from her mouth and giggled evilly.

'Just cause you two are virgins…And about Davis. We could ask Marlene. Remember at that party in fourth year?'

'Yes. I think we all remember that party.' Alice said. Out of the many parties that had happened during my time at Hogwarts, the particular one we were referencing was the most memorable. To cut a long story short, some extremely drunk person had accidently conjured a whole colony of flamingos. Then the whole world had found out that Marlene was terrified of flamingos and Davis had been her protector. Basically, that's when Davis happened and the two of them went up to the boy's dormitory together. The rest was history.

'I think they've finished practicing.' I said as I looked at the pitch. The Gryffindor Team were heading to the changing rooms with Marlene still glaring daggers at the butt-pincher (I had no idea what his name was).

* * *

The Great Hall was a buzz with noise and I sat eating my dinner with Marlene and Alice. Mary was currently on a date with Andrew in which he was going to propose to Mary. I was the only one out the Girls who knew.

Marlene and Alice were discussing the troubles of their love lives. Wow, weren't our lives just full of excitement. Well, mine wasn't anyway. I'll put it this way: you couldn't write a story about my life – not that anyone would want to.

'Patrick is driving me up the wall.' Marlene was complaining. 'He keeps coming up with all these soppy bullshit things to say to me. I mean, it's cute when Andrew says that stuff to Mary but when Patrick says it is just makes me feel so fucking gross.'

Alice and I nodded sympathetically.

'What's he saying?' Alice asked.

'I'll love you forever, I love all your perfect imperfections and all that crap. Who the fuck does he think I am? Do I look like someone who like that kind of shit?'

'No.' I said a little distantly as Tom caught my eye from the Hufflepuff table and winked at me. I smiled back at him and he pulled a face, pointing at his best mate George who was sitting with a girl who I guessed might be his girlfriend. The two looked completely lost in their own world with poor Tom awkwardly sitting next to them. I pulled a face back at him and he laughed.

'LILY EVANS!' Alice said loudly in my ear, making my jump in shock. This caused Tom to almost fall out of his seat as he laughed. I stuck my tongue out at him before returning my attention to Alice and Marlene. 'Kindly stop flirting with your boyfriend and listen. Marls just asked you something.'

'Sorry, I didn't hear the question. What was it?' Marlene chuckled before turning serious.

'I'm thinking of dumping Patrick. D'you think I should?'

'Well…Are you happy with him?'

'I was. Until he started at me with all that sentimental crap.'

'Can't you just tell him you're not comfortable with it. It's not exactly a reason to dump him.'

'I guess. But I reckon he means it and it's part of how he his.'

'Ermm…'

'I mean. He's always saying stuff like that and to tell him to stop would take away some of his personality. I'm sure someone other girl would appreciate it.'

'True. Well, it's your relationship Marls so if you want to dump him go ahead.'

'Thanks Lily.'

I grinned at her. Then I turned to Alice.

'So, Miss Prewitt, are we finally going to learn the name of your 6th year or will we forever be kept in the dark?'

Alice blushed a deep crimson and Marlen laughed into her dinner.

'Umm…His name's Warren.' The two of us gaped at her.

'You mean Warren McClaggen!?' Marlene asked, her eyes wide. How had we not realised who Alice was dating sooner? Warren McClaggen was one of the biggest heartthrobs of Hogwarts. Almost all the girls at Hogwarts fancied him and the only people who had a higher set of girls lusting after them were the Marauders. He wasn't exactly known for brains but his looks apparently made up for it.

'Yes.' Alice mumbled as Frank walked passed where we sat.

'How did we not know this sooner?' Marlene asked outraged.

'I think the question is how does the whole school not know about this?' I asked in a very calm voice compared with Marlene's.

'We've been going slow because…I…'

'Still like Longbottom.' Marlene finished scowling. 'Honestly, you've got the chance to date fucking McClaggen and you're still pining after bloody Schlongbottom.' She tutted and Alice looked shamefully at her plate.

'It's okay, Alice. You and Frank had something and then you lost it. It's okay if you're not over him yet.'

'Lily don't encourage her. Wait…Did you just call him Frank?' Marlene glowered at me.

'I…umm…'

'So, he's Frank again all of sudden? He broke the heart of one of your best mates if you remember!' My heart pounded loudly against my chest but I held my ground. Marlene was definitely the most frightening of all my friends.

'It just slipped out!' I answered back because I knew Alice could not know the truth yet. As I spoke I looked at Marlene and subtly indicated my head at Alice, trying to tell her I couldn't explain in front of Alice. Alice couldn't know the truth yet because if she did she'd throw herself at Frank and as I had told him, they'd both be leaping into a relationship with their eyes shut. Marlene understood my movements.

'Guys, I can see Warren over there and he wanted to hang out so I'm just going to go…' Alice said a little embarrassed and went off. Immediately, Marlene turned to me.

'Spill.'

'Well, I started thinking that Frank would never do something like that to Alice so I asked him for his side of the story. And he told me.'

'You didn't!' Marlene cried in exasperation. 'Why the fuck are you so bloody forgiving?'

'Yes I asked him.'

'And what did the little bugger say?' she growled.

'You know Alice mentioned he did this kind of speech after they kissed?'

'Yes.'

'Basically, he really really likes her but started his speech wrong so it sounded like he was saying he just wanted to be friends.' Marlene stared at me for a good minute before she spoke.

'Fucking hell. She likes the thick ones, doesn't she?'

'Marls, she's one of your best mates. I don't think you should say that.'

'But she does! Fuck! What we going to do? That's not an easy situation and if I know you, you'll of felt all bloody guilty and said you'd help.'

'Maybe…Will you help too? I don't want to burden Mary with it.' Again, Marlene was silent before she answered.

'Fine. But only if I don't have to apologise to Lo-Frank about beating him up.'

'Deal.' And we shook on it before we both started laughing.

* * *

The library was packed with students desperately trying to do their homework before Monday came and gave them detention for their lack of completed work. Those students who had Professor McGonagall on Monday were the easiest to spot as they were the most desperate to finish. I smirked at the floor as I headed towards the Founder's Library (that's what I'd named it). Cautiously, I looked around me before whispering the password and entering. As the door shut behind me, I sighed in relief as the world around me was silent. The new sanctuary I'd found here was quite welcome and the books which surrounded me were a whole new world of knowledge.

I'd almost finished the German book I'd been reading and I'd found some interesting/useful things in it. Not to mention, it was a really good book. Having already done all my homework, I settled myself in the little alcove that was in the base of the tree and pulled out the large volume. Here I sat for a good two hours reading and finishing the book. I was sorry to finish it but extremely glad I'd read it in the first place.

My surroundings were calm and in a way, it was almost like you could feel Slytherin and Ravenclaw's spirit in the room. The room was filled with the sense of discovery and pride. I imagined that the two must have been great friends. The story of Hogwarts back then of course must have ruined that and although I was a Gryffindor, it felt as though Sev and I too were being torn apart in the same way. The issue of my friendship with Sev had been pushed to the back of my mind for quite some time but in here it seemed to force its way to the front. History was repeating itself with the whole purebloods were better thing.

The school library had many books on modern Wizarding History and I read them all. Muggleborns had only recently been allowed to sit where they liked on the train. Ten year previous and they'd had to sit at the back. The battle for equality between blood types (that sounded so weird – like people who had O type blood were deemed better than those who had type AB) was a battle I had been forced to join the second I entered the Wizarding World. I would fight to keep those save that I loved but for my personal benefit I cared very little. What happened to me didn't matter but what happened to my friends did.

Suddenly, I didn't feel like being in the Founder's Library.

I picked up my things, returned the book I'd borrowed to its correct place and left taking care not to show anyone the existence of the room I'd left. The corridors were void of students due to the desire to finish homework before Monday or make the most of the remaining ours of the weekend so I walked through corridors quite alone. As I turned the corridor I realised that I'd entered the same location of the attack a few nights previous. The scene was the same, minus the injured boy, silent and deserted. I stepped into the corridor and began to move along it. It was perfect for an attack. No windows for nosy people to look through, no portraits to act as witnesses, a secret passageway to escape through and the time of day that meant no one walked through it. 9pm at night would have been exactly the same. I stood in the centre of the corridor and looked around.

Madame Pomfrey had said that the attack was most likely unplanned and performed spontaneously by a bully. But I had to disagree. The scene was too perfect for something unplanned. Everything set up for a successful get away and supposedly a successful dumping of the victim. But I had ruined that. The victim had been left to bleed to death and I'd stop them from dying with the Blood Replenishing potion. They'd been left to die and no one would have found them until the next day when students walked along there to lessons which would have been too late.

So, the boy was supposed to have died but didn't. Did that mean the attacker(s) would try again? On the same boy? Or perhaps on someone else. But Madame Pomfrey was right when she said we couldn't be sure the attack was planned and there was a reason behind it until another attack occurred. If there would be another. Perhaps it was something simply unique to this boy. Perhaps someone had a grudge against him. A very strong grudge. But could a boy of his age have done something evoking his death? It seemed to me highly unlikely.

I wasn't very good at being a detective. Poriot would've been better to solve this or Sherlock Holmes. They knew about these things and I really didn't.

The secret passage way led to the Charms corridor, which I knew having used it on numerous occasions, and that was extremely away. There was no point going down it now but I made a mental note to look around it at a later date.

* * *

It was almost dinner so headed to Gryffindor tower and dumped my stuff in my dormitory. Then I spotted Remus and walked down to the Great Hall with him. We sat opposite each other and chatted aimlessly. Well, Remus was complaining and I was giving helpful responses.

'Slughorn's essay is driving me round the bend. I know it's due in a weeks' time but seriously, I don't know how I'm going to finish it. There isn't much to say on what felix felicis does other than it makes you lucky. You done the essay yet?'

'Mmm.' I answered. 'It's in my dorm so I'll give it to you after we've eaten.'

'Thanks Lily.'

'Has Rita Skeeter given you any work to do yet? I can do it while you do the potions essay, if you like.'

'In all honesty, I think she forgot I even promised to do it. I think Sirius' session with her was a little distracting.'

The two of us snickered as we began eating. It took me two attempts to stop laughing before I could put my spoonful soup in my mouth. We ate in companionable silence for a while.

'Did you know McClaggen hasn't dated anyone since the start of the year.' Remus said conversationally. I looked at him strangely. Since when did Remus gossip?

'No I didn't.' I answered in a very bored way. He was kind of dating Alice was what was happening. In secret of course.

'Some people said he hasn't even hooked up with anyone. Everyone's saying he likes someone but hasn't told them yet. Proving he isn't someone who flings girls aside, you know?'

'Okay.'

'And d'you know what their calling it?'

'No' I said cautiously and I could tell that whatever 'they' were calling it was highly amusing to Remus.

'The Potter Disease.' He said and burst out laughing. I guessed that he'd only heard this recently and I was most likely the first person he'd told. Unfortunately for Remus, I had no idea what was so funny about the situation. I mean, if Potter had a disease that stopped him from confessing things then it was quite cruel to make fun of it. I had no idea if there was an illness that did that but still…

As Remus calmed down, I got the impression he hadn't been expecting me to laugh. His face looked oddly satisfied at my complete lack of understanding the oh-so-hilarious joke and when I opened my mouth to say something I closed it again as I suddenly got the feeling I wasn't supposed to understand it. I wondered then if he'd had that conversation just to see my reaction.

Sirius sat himself down next to me. He was smirking and I eyed him cautiously as he looped his arm around me.

'He's only gone and bloody done it. The one, the only, Sirius Black has procured your desired item.' He announced dramatically. I stared at him for a moment with disbelief that he'd manged to get the Wolfsbane potion instructions so quickly. Sirius handed me a piece of parchment and after scanning over it quickly, I squealed. Then, I enveloped Sirius in a huge hug and practically skipped over to where Tom sat at the Hufflepuff table. I left being me a very amused Sirius and a completely baffled Remus. I also heard Sirius ask Remus:  
'She doesn't understand the Potter disease thing, does she?' I didn't hear what Remus said but I did hear Sirius' response. 'Good, good.' I had no idea what Sirius meant but chose to ignore it and focus on my good mood.

'Evening.' I said brightly and sat myself down next to Tom. 'George with his girlfriend again?'

'Yep. But I don't mind.'

'Really?' I asked an eyebrow raised. It must have been annoying sometimes to be left alone for a girlfriend. I mean, Tom must have done it on occasion to spend alone time with me but I was always cautious that we didn't ditch our friends too much.

'Yes, Lily.' He answered. 'Really.' He added when my eyebrow moved arched a little higher. 'Besides, I get more alone time with you.'

'I'm sure that makes your day.'

'Course it does.' He answered grinning

'Oh yeah?' I asked amused. Tom didn't answer this time. Instead, he pulled me onto his lap. He began to nuzzle my neck. 'I'll take that as a yes…' and he chuckled into my neck.

 **Remus' POV:**

Lily skipped off to go join her boyfriend and although I'd opened my mouth to ask Padfoot about what had made Lily so happy I didn't get around to it as he began speaking.

'She doesn't understand the Potter disease thing, does she?' he asked in a serious tone (no pun intended).

'No.'

'Good, good.' He paused for a moment. 'You don't think we should tell her Prongs actually is genuine with his feelings?'

'No!' I said at once. 'It's best if she stays thinking he's taking the piss of her. You know Lily, she wouldn't stop feeling bad that she doesn't like him back even though she's with Tom and Prongs is a prick to her. I mean, she's not always the nicest back but-'

'That's our Lily. Feisty.' He said a little proudly and I grinned before turning serious again.

'She'd blame herself for not feeling the same as him. James needs to grow up before he's even got a hope. Besides she's happy with Tom.'

'And Young, McDonald and Prewitt? They're still with us on this?'

'Yeah. They haven't said they aren't. I talked to McDonald yesterday and she said she tries to keep it in the air that Prongs is bad. Apparently, Young and Prewitt do the same. Then again, I don't think Lily needs help to dislike Prongs.'

'You're not wrong there, mate. Speaking of Prongs, where is he?'

'He's with Wormtail. Pete's trying to persuade him that Lily won't think any less of him.'

'Wormy will calm him down.'

'Weird how he's worried she'll think less of him cause of a rumour and not due to how horrible he is to her almost every day.'

'Well…' Sirius said fairly. 'Prongs has always been dumb as shit.' I chuckled. That summed up my mate. True, intellectually he wasn't stupid nor stupid in Quidditch but when it came to anything else he was absolutely clueless.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The Potter disease isn't contagious through reading about it so you'll all be fine – not that anyone was worrying.**

 **Please review :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

 **A/N: It's time for another chapter! Who's excited? I'm thinking we'll get to know Tom a bit more in this chapter. This is quite a big leap in time since the last chapter so sorry I missed out Valentine's day but I didn't really want to focus on it in fifth year. What is it? 9 days until Valentine day in real life? For future reference, I am someone who dislikes Valentine's day and I'm afraid Lily will be too.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The Potter disease joke had swept through the older students and had all of them laughing even months after it had first appeared. I had no idea what was so funny but no one explained it to me so I remained in the dark. Every time people would discuss theories on why McClaggen had 'contracted' the disease Alice would start blushing. Marlene, Mary, Remus and Sirius all laughed at the whole thing but every so often I would catch them looking concernedly at me or the four of them share a glance together. Tom too acted strangely; he would become weirdly protective of me when someone joked about it and put his arm around me in a way that seemed slightly possessive. Seeing as I didn't understand the joke I couldn't make sense of anyone's behaviour. I'd asked all my mates about it and almost got an answer from Peter until Sirius dragged him away to talk about something 'important'.

I felt sorry for Potter. I really did. He seemed fine with the rumour and from any observation I'd made he found the whole situation hilarious. When he passed McClaggen in the corridor he would thump him on the back. Nevertheless, I felt sorry for Potter. It must have been annoying for people to smirk at one another and then look at him every time McClaggen's mystery love interest was mentioned. I'd told the Girls that I felt sorry for Potter and Marlene had immediately sworn extremely loudly, scaring some passing first years which earned her a glare from me who tutored one of those first years, and started to rant about all the bad things about James Potter. Mary and Alice joined her in this and I watched the three of them absolutely baffled. All I'd said was I felt sorry for him!

The joke was turning everyone weird and a few months after its first appearance it was still there. Maybe if I'd been in on the joke I wouldn't have been so bothered by it. On the plus side, it had distracted everyone from the attack and the whole castle was in a much better mood. With the exception of me. There had been no other attacks since so it was quickly forgotten through this new distraction.

I kept waking up in the middle of the night, panicked and scared but with no idea what had evoked those emotions. The cause was unknown to me and from what I knew I had no reason to possibly wake up frightened. When I did suffer these restless nights, I would usually sneak to the Founder's Library for a chance to calm down. There I would cast Arnold as one of my ways to control my thudding heart but his appearance had stopped giving me comfort. Every time I conjured him he seemed restless and would look at me with a kind of wild urgency in his eyes. I'd tried to explain this using the books in the Founder's Library. The theory that explained this said that my patronus knew I was changing as a person but I had to complete my change as well as realise who I was inside so that my patronus could change form.

This made me so happy that I promptly had a party. Or not. It made everything seem so much more confusing. I was going mad. That was the only explanation I had. And a stupid one at that.

To cap it all, my fellow fifth years and I had returned to our common rooms to find job leaflets on a table labelled O.W.L students. My revision had been freaking me out and it was just piling on with the careers leaflets. Professor McGonagall announced in class that we would all have a meeting with our Head of House about our future. Everyone else seemed to look slightly relieved but I sank down in my seat wanting to disappear. I had the feeling that Professor McGonagall noticed because when she finished speaking and we began working individually she watched me thoughtfully. In tutoring with Amy, I found she looked up to me and saw me as so put together and responsible. Everyone did. As in they thought me put together and responsible – not so much with the looking up to me. And maybe I was on the outside. But on the inside I was falling apart.

If it weren't for the spells from Mary's lurid pink books, then my appearance might have told the same story. In the mornings, my face showed the crumbling sixteen-year-old (my birthday was in January) I actually was. No one saw it though due to those spells that were once again surprisingly useful. With one dark circle vanishing spell and another instant skin clearing charm I looked absolutely fine.

Mary's pregnancy added another thing to my list of worries. She was now engaged to Andrew but suddenly the bigger picture of this pregnancy was hitting her. She and I had gone to St Mungos for a first look at the baby and after that appointment it had really hit home that she carried a tiny person inside her. Ever since then she been talking to her stomach more and more and talking about being a mum. I was slightly concerned she was hiding how scared she really was. I knew Mary was terrified of what everyone would say when they found out she was pregnant but she smiled bravely at every turn. Her stomach was still easily hidden but it was only a matter of time before people would really start to notice. I mean, Potter had mentioned that Marlene had put on weight during the umm… library incident and if he as an unobservant person had noticed than the rest of the school could not be so far behind.

Alice spent more and more with McClaggen or disappearing if you didn't know about their relationship. I had a feeling her relationship stayed hidden because she felt that if she announced it and Frank heard she'd feel like she'd lost any chance with him. Poor Alice, she was so confused. Poor Frank, it would tear him apart when he found out. He'd probably hate me for it because I'd said I'd help and it would seem like he was further away from getting Alice back than before. But I knew Alice needed this relationship to heal. I still worried because I knew it would hurt so many people when Alice finally announced she was dating McClaggen. At the same time however, I wondered if Alice really was the one pushing for a secret relationship. I wondered why she wasn't openly dating him because surely that would be her way of proving she was over Frank.

Marlene had dumped Patrick and spent a lot of her time hiding behind me which was no mean feet considering how short I was. She felt extremely bad for ending their relationship and now couldn't bear for Patrick to see her. I knew she was glad she'd ended things but the guilt she felt for making Patrick feel so upset was quite large. In general, she was still the same Marlene we all knew and loved but there were times when she became as jumpy as a first year entering Hogwarts for the first time.

The potion for Remus was making progress but I didn't have as much time to work on it as I'd anticipated. Revision piled up alongside homework and the troubles of my friends. I didn't always go to meals any more due to my workload and often when I did I couldn't stomach more than a few mouthfuls. I'd lost weight. A lot of weight. Looking in the mirror scared me these days and I hated my body. I couldn't even force myself to eat enough because when I did I threw up the whole meal a few minutes later. I used a concealment on my body so that no one would notice.

Tom's possessive attitude since the Potter disease had become a joke made me worried. It wasn't in the sense that he forbade me from talking to the opposite gender but more he immediately assumed I preferred other males to him and then got pissed at me for it. For example, I mentioned Potter's name ONCE in a story about my Herbology lesson and Tom started going on about me preferring Potter and that he couldn't match up to him. I knew Tom could be quite insecure at times but this was ridiculous. I mean, where on Earth could anyone get the idea I favoured Potter over Tom?

I didn't like him touching me in any way so much anymore in case he felt how much weight I'd lost. I was so worried of what he would do if he found out (not in a violent way just being fussed over or becoming really protective of me) that I couldn't be cheered up by him kissing or hugging me. The concealment charm didn't change me physically so you could 'feel' through the spell.

At present, I was in the girl's bathroom on the first floor. I sat on the floor of the cubicle having just been sick after forcing myself to eat a full meal as I'd felt Potter watching me. My school bag lay next to me and I fished in it for a packet of tissues and a make-up bag. I'd never previously worn makeup unless forced but Marlene, Mary and Alice had got me loads and when I said loads, I meant loads. My bedside drawers looked like those of a makeup pro. I could do makeup having done makeovers too often not to be able to do it and I had refilling spells at the ready so I would never run out of it. Putting on minimal make up had made its way into my morning routine.

I patted around my mouth with the tissue in case of any traces of sick. Then I got out a mirror and a nude eyeliner. Although nude eyeliner was generally used for making yourself look less hungover, I thought it was quite useful in detracting from my bloodshot eyes after the tears that had rolled out of them. Then I used a spell I'd used before on the Astronomy Tower with Potter. Instantly, my eyes stopped being puffy and in my opinion no one could tell I had just thrown up and cried a little – at least if no one looked too closely at my eyes and noticed they were slightly bloodshot.

Unlocking the cubicle door, I got up and left the bathroom waving goodbye to Myrtle (the ghost who haunted this bathroom) and hurried to my last lesson of the day. I arrived in Transfiguration just as Professor McGonagall did and I could her eyes on the back of my head as I shuffled shamefully into my seat next to Alice. The lesson began and as per usual, I bewitched my quill to take notes as I listened to Professor McGonagall.

'Today we begin with revising 4th year Transfiguration. We will begin with turning hedgehogs into pincushions.' The class groaned collectively but I remained silent and looked at the dents in my desk. One of them was surprisingly deep. Like seriously, what the hell made something that deep? A whale? To be honest, I wouldn't put it past the past Transfiguration classes of Hogwarts. If some drunk person had conjured a load of flamingos at a Gryffindor party, then someone could easily have transfigured something into a buffalo or a mammoth or a-

'Lily!' hissed Alice's voice and it sliced through my thoughts.

'Yes.' I answered loudly as I left my startled state. I looked at Alice questioningly and she indicated her head at Professor McGonagall who stood looming over me. 'Professor?'

'I asked if you would be so kind as to take a hedgehog.' She said sternly.

'Oh yes, of course.' I said turning the same colour as my hair and taking the hedgehog. 'I so sorry Professor. I'll pay more attention in future.'

'Mmmm.' She answered shrewdly. 'See me after class, Miss Evans.' And with that she walked away. I turned to the hedgehog that sat peaceably on my desk. Lucky bugger. He probably didn't even realise I would be turning him into a pincushion. I raised my wand to perform the spell. I'd been revising so I knew how to do this without any reminders. The hedgehog twitched its nose. My arm remained ready to cast the spell. Now the hedgehog shifted a little. Still I did not perform the spell. The hedgehog lifted its gaze and I looked into the pitch-black eyes which glistened like beetles. I stayed frozen, poised to transfigure the hedgehog. Seconds ticked by as I continued to stare at the tiny mammal on my desk. Slowly, I lowered my wand. Alice, who was muttering to herself trying to remember the incantation, accidentally elbowed me.

'Sorry, Lily!' she muttered distractedly before returning to her previous mumblings.

'It's fine.' I said but she didn't hear me. Then, I returned my attention to the hedgehog. Absentmindedly, I began stroking the hedgehog. It relaxed under the soft strokes and slowly drifted off into a deep sleep.

 **James' POV:**

I watched Evans stroke her hedgehog. It was odd because Lily Evans always did the task set by the teacher yet there she was not doing anything. I glanced at McGonagall and to my surprise I saw her watching Evans. To my amazement, she wasn't going over to tell Evans off for not working. Instead, she observed her in a pensive manner.

I looked over at Padfoot who was levitating a velvet pincushion in front of him.

'Nice pincushion.' He said smirking as his eyes fell on my emerald green pincushion.

'Thanks.'

'Don't mention it.'

'I won't.

'Maybe I will.' He put on a very nasal voice. 'Hey Evans! You know what your eyes look like? My pincushion! Stick your pins in it any time you- Hey!' I threw the pincushion at him.

'I do not sound like that!' I cried indignantly.

'You sure about that Prongsie?' he asked still smirking.

'I-YES!' He snorted. I hit him over the head with my Transfiguration textbook.

'Potter! Black! Kindly return to the task in hand or I'll be forced to set detentions!' snapped McGonagall from the front of the classroom.

'Minnie!' Sirius gasped. 'You wouldn't!'

'Detention, Black.' Padfoot began to bawl loudly.

'Minnie! You broke his heart. He'll never be the same again.' I cried and began patting Padfoot of the back. On the other side of me, Mooney and Wormtail rolled their eyes.

'Perhaps you would do well with a detention too, Potter.' She said and that was that. As soon as her back was turned, Padfoot and I began snickering. It was quite unfair, however, as Evans hadn't done any work either and yet she received no punishment.

At the end of the lesson, the two of us were called back and we headed to the front of the classroom. To our surprise, Evans stood there also.

'Got a detention, Evans? First time? Well, Pads and I have plenty of advice for a newbie like you.' I said putting my signature Potter smirk in place. All girls loved the Potter smirk. Evans opened her mouth as though she wanted to retort but then closed it again and looked at the floor. I frowned.

 **Back to Lily's POV:**

Professor McGonagall quickly dealt with Sirius and Potter. In all honesty, I didn't even know they'd been messing around in class; I'd been too absorbed in my world of stroking hedgehogs to notice anything. They left as soon as she dismissed them whilst both shooting curious looks in my direction.

'I think we'll be better off having this conversation in my office.' Professor McGonagall led the way to her office and I followed her in silence. We reached her office and once inside, she indicated for me to sit as she sat herself behind her desk.

I tugged my plait.

'Ginger newt, Miss Evans?' she asked holding a tartan tin in front of me.

'No thank you.' I answered politely. Throwing up in Professor McGonagall's office was not a pleasant prospect.

'Very well. I think it best if I get straight to the point. You've lost weight. Lots of weight.'

'I haven't.' I said rather lamely as Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow in my direction.

'It takes more than a concealment charm to fool me. The concealment charm is only as effective as the person who looks upon it sees it. Most are easily fooled but people who wish to see the truth will see it with great ease. People see what they wish to see. I'm sure you are aware of this, Miss Evans.'

'Yes, Professor.' I mumbled looking at my knees.

'I am aware that when returning from your home you have usually lost a little weight but this is much more extreme. And you have also not visited your home since Christmas and it is currently March. I'll ask you this simply. What is the reason for your weight loss?'

I tugged my plait once again.

'Umm. Stress, I guess.' I said quietly still observing my knees. They really were quite interesting.

'Stress?'

'Yes.'

'Could there be possibly anything else?'

'I don't know.'

'Miss Evans, this is to help you.' She said gently. A mug of hot chocolate floated towards me. 'This may help a little too.'

'Forgive me, Professor, but I don't need any help. I'm perfectly fine.' I wondered why I was denying my situation as I accepted the floating hot chocolate.

'You do yourself no favours denying things, Miss Evans.' Professor McGonagall said with some of her sternness returning. I remained silent. 'This is entirely confidential.'

'I haven't been sleeping well recently.' I said finally. 'I often wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep again.'

'And when you wake up, is it you are now simply awake or do you wake feeling any particular emotions?' I looked at Professor McGonagall. How did she know?

'I…whe…usually panicked. Sometimes I'm scared as well.' I confessed. It felt like a weight that had been compressing me was lifting ever so slightly.

'Do you experience anything before you wake that could evoke these emotions.'

'Not that I remember.'

'Perhaps your daily stress builds up and catches up with you at that moment.' I nodded silently. 'I'm not convinced stress is the only factor in this situation.'

'I'm not sure, Professor.'

'Perhaps you have problems in your friendship group?' She looked at me shrewdly.

'Mary's baby is creating a lot of worry for Mary.'

'But that isn't everything, is it, Miss Evans? Perhaps it has something to do with a certain Mr Clarke?' I almost gaped at Professor McGonagall but I controlled myself just in time. 'Am I correct?'

'Yes.' I mumbled.

'And?' she prompted.

'He's very insecure at times and suddenly it's exploded. Every time I mention anyone else male he starts assuming I prefer that person to him. I don't understand why.'

Professor McGonagall observed me.

'I know it's stupid. But he's not the only one acting strangely. All my friends are. Ever since the Potter disease joke started, everyone's been acting weirdly around me. I just don't understand it and no one will explain it to me.'

'Have you asked them to explain?'

'Yes, but they all said it was best I didn't know. And when I said I felt sorry for Potter because of everyone joking about him being a disease they lost it. It was lucky Tom wasn't there because he would have thought I was splitting up with him right there and then.'

'Is it not knowing that stresses you then?'

'I'm not sure. I'd say not being able to help any situation is what makes it worse.'

'Of, course. I will get Madame Pomfrey to prescribe you with a nightly dose of dreamless sleep and a potion to help you to regain your appetite which I imagine you have lost due to stress.'

'Thank you, Professor McGonagall.'

'You are free to leave, Miss Evans. I would suggest not to give yourself too many tasks outside of schoolwork to do. It will help with your workload.'

I nodded and left her office. I headed for my dormitory and found two potion bottles on my bedside table. Wow, Professor McGonagall was fast. I had no homework and the thought of sleep was so appealing. I took one teaspoon full as instructed on the bottle and quickly drifted off into my potion enforced slumber.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I** **'m not sure how I feel about this chapter. It's kind of a transition chapter. Sorry.**

 **The jump in time was quite big but I do want to move the plot along a little. The incident that happens at the end of 5** **th** **year is something that's been in my mind a lot and I'd quite like to get there soon.**

 **Please review :)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

 **A/N: What did you think of the last chapter? I repeated myself in it a bit but hopefully it was alright overall. This chapter is a result of my writer's block. It's got some stuff in it that I like and other bits that are a bit meh.**

 **A shout out to my awesome reviewers! You guys always put a smile on my face.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

My alarm went off at 6 am and I groaned into my pillow as I felt a cramp sitting inside me. I always felt that if cramps were people they'd be very smug. Just a thought.  
Sliding out of my four-poster, I turned off my alarm, grabbed my things and padded into the bathroom. Every movement I made seemed to irritate my insides and the cramp continued to dig into me. I washed, dressed and undid my plait I'd worn during the night only to brush my hair and redo the braid. Once I was finished, I headed back to my bed to get my appetite potion and my painkilling potion. I took a teaspoon of each and immediately I felt the pain ebb away as I felt my appetite return.

This had become my new routine in the mornings (minus the painkiller when I had no cramps). I found that the appetite potion would last all day but by the next morning I would need another teaspoon to be able to eat again. Madame Pomfrey had assured me that my appetite would eventually return of its own accord but for the time being I would have to rely on the potion to be able to eat.

As I headed out of the dormitory I paused in front of the full-length mirror next to my wardrobe. The girl who looked back at me looked frail and tired. A single tear rolled down my cheek. She was me alright; the same horrible hair and the same starved body. My weight had improved since I'd started using the potion but the journey to returning to my former weight was still a while away. I'd sometimes considered myself too heavy compared with my height but now seeing myself at this weight had changed my whole view. I realised that I would give anything to be at that healthy weight again. That was us humans though. We never realised we had something good until it was taken away from us. Stupid, really.

I walked down to the Great Hall in a peaceful mood. Upon reaching the Great Hall, I looked around and saw it was empty save two teachers and a bunch of girls, including Bertha Jorkins and Rita Skeeter. The Gryffindor table not only bore breakfast food but was scattered with leaflets. I scowled at the sight of them; apparently sitting on that offending table in the common room was not enough for the career pamphlets and they had needed to relocate. Next to my plate was a brochure on Healing so I chucked it down the table. I didn't need one of those leaflets next to me while I ate, thank you very much. Glancing quickly at the staff table to see if either of the two Professors had seen me throw the leaflet, I noticed Professor McGonagall observing me pensively. Shit. She'd probably mention it in my update meetings with her about Amy's mentoring progress. Actually, what would be even worse, she'd probably ask me about it in my careers meeting with her. I had a careers meeting during Charms with her. Everyone in our year had one at some point with their Head of House. Personally, I felt that it would be a waste of time talking to me. I'd also been to Professor McGonagall's office way more than I ever thought I would in the past few weeks.

I ate my breakfast determinately, as though to prove a point, and warily looked at the girls on a different table. Skeeter and Jorkins were whispering excitedly. Honestly, those two! I mean, who found the idea of two people breaking up or something similar that amazing? Them apparently.

* * *

It was two minutes until I had to leave for my careers meeting and I began to pack up my things. For the next two minutes I helped Alice with her charms essay before I excused myself from my lesson. I wandered down the Charms corridor and turned into the secret passageway that would lead me to a corridor near Professor McGonagall's office much faster than the non-secret passageway way. I thought 'lumos' in my head and my wand lit itself and I was able to see as I moved forwards. The wand light illuminated the walls of passageway in an eerie way and I gave an involuntary shiver. My feet pulled me forwards and soon I was in a corridor lit by daylight which poured through the windows. I was in _the_ corridor. As this realisation came to me, images of running through the dungeons with Sirius flickered through my mind. The eerie glow of my wand light flashed across my mind just as the words 'So we start after Christmas?' hissed in the depths of my brain.

The conversation! I heard it. But who were those speaking? There had been three of them. No. Seven. No, that wasn't it. Five! There had definitely been five. Their names? I had no idea.

Ahhhhhhhh!

Why at this moment in time did my brain have to forget things? The names of those who were likely responsible for the attack were on the tip of my tongue. Umm… Nope. Nothing. Stupid Lily!

Speaking of forgetting things, I was 2 minutes late for my appointment with Professor McGonagall. I sprinted towards her office and knocked on the door as I tried to regain my breath. As usual, the door opened instantly and I walked in with as much composure as an out of breath person could muster. Professor McGonagall fixed me with a stern look.

'Sorry, Professor. I got held up.' I said apologetically.

'That's quite alright, Miss Evans. You may sit down.' I sat obediently. 'We are here to discuss possible career paths you wish to follow.'

'Yes, Professor.'

'Do you have any idea of what you wish to do after you leave Hogwarts?'

I tugged my plait.

'Umm…I'm going to help my dad run his bakery.' Professor McGonagall's stern look seemed to flicker with something other than seriousness.

'Is that all you wish to do?'

'I might get a part time job at Flourish and Blott's. That way I can earn some wizarding money. I don't want to cut out the wizarding world but ultimately I think running my dad's bakery will take up a lot of time.'

'I'm sure, Miss Evans, that with your grades you could amount to anything you wished to be. Perhaps an Auror or Healer would be a better career choice than working in a book shop and a bakery.' She said as she looked over a piece of paper.

'My dad needs the help. If he didn't then I might consider something else but I think it would be best for me not to plan for any other pathway.'

'You do not wish to be a Healer then?' I stared at her with wide eyes.

'I-I've wanted to be Healer since I found out it was a wizarding career. I can't though – my dad needs me.'

'Have you considered a part time job as a Healer?'

'Yes. There are no part time training courses at St Mungos. I checked when I last went with Mary.'

Professor McGonagall looked past me as her gaze turned thoughtful. She was silent for a long time before she spoke.

'There is a small wizarding hospital that is run by an acquaintance of mine. They are on the board for national magical health. That particular hospital has part time training courses as it is too small to have full time ones. I'm sure I could arrange something for you, Miss Evans.'

I almost gaped at her but stopped myself.

'Thank you, Professor.' Her lips twitched upwards slightly.

'Something I have noticed in your behaviour, Miss Evans, is that you always seem surprised when someone offers to help you.'

'I…'

'You are dismissed.'

I thanked her and scurried out almost bumping into Potter who evidently had a meeting next. He smirked at me and I bowed my head quickly before rushing away. I didn't want to spend any more time around him than necessary. That way, I could avoid arguments.

I checked my watch and saw there were only 5 minutes until break. There was no point heading back to Charms so instead, I headed for the library. The castle corridors were silent and still due to everyone still being in lessons. The only sound was of my black pumps making contact with the floor as I walked. My school skirt rose and fell with every step I took as did my school robes. I noticed a hole at the bottom of my robes and lifted the hem so I could see it better. As I examined the hole, I continued to moved and didn't pay attention to my surroundings until I stumbled over something. I promptly dropped the hem of my robes and turned to see what the something was.

I gasped.

The something was a body. A mangled and blood covered body. Not another attack. Not now. But God had had other ideas. I knelt down next to the body and tried to access the situation. The victim appeared to be female. And they were unconscious. Very unconscious. But still breathing according the ragged inhaling that I could hear. It reminded me of the sound of nails scratching a chalkboard.

I knelt down next to the victim and rolled them cautiously onto their side. Then, I gently teased up the girl's jumper and blouse to see if I could find any wounds. Her stomach had no wounds and the front of her blouse bore no signs of blood but I did notice two bruises that looked like the bottom of shoes. These footprints faced in opposite directions and appeared to be different sizes. Her back was covered in large, deep gashes that oozed blood. 7 slashes. I counted them and frowned.

The bell to signal break echoed through the corridor.

Hastily, I conjured up a wall at each end of the corridor so that no one would come and gawp at this girl. I examined the bleeding wounds. They were almost identical to those of the boy who I'd found attacked. Springing into action, I conjured some things I needed for healing and quickly tipped some blood replenishing potion down her throat. Then I attempted to clean and heal her injuries. The bruises vanished almost instantaneously but just like with the boy's wounds nothing seemed to help. I recast the one that seemed to stop the bleeding even if it didn't heal the slashes. With a flick of my wand, I cast Arnold and sent a message to Madame Pomfrey. I bandaged up the wounds and tried not to panic after a minute with no sign of Madame Pomfrey. Around two minutes with no sign of the Hogwarts Matron the bandages began, to my horror, to turn scarlet with blood. Apparently, the wounds had re-opened themselves and started to gush with scarlet liquid. Gingerly, I undid one of the bandages and confirmed my suspicions at the sight of the blood flowing out of the wounds. I gave the girl another dose of blood replenishing potion as I saw Arnold appear through the conjured world. I vanished the wall and Madame Pomfrey appeared. She rushed over and I recast the wall just in case any students wandered this way. Her eyes widened a little as she knelt down next to me.

'I can start healing her right here but I need you to get Professor McGonagall.' I nodded and rushed off to get my Head of House. The way to her office was empty as all students were outside for break. I burst into her office without knocking.

'Professor! There's-' I broke off as I was met by Professor McGonagall and Potter both staring at me. Well most likely at my appearance. I was, after all, drenched in blood.

'This would be the second time you've entered my office like that, Miss Evans. Are you planning to make it a habit?' she said sternly. If this had been any other situation I would have laughed. But a girl had been attacked and I needed to get Professor McGonagall to come to Madame Pomfrey.

'There's been another attack.' I said quickly and Professor McGonagall stood up from behind her desk.

'The same boy?'

'No. It's a girl this time.' She nodded and the two of us began to exit.

'Professor? Should I come too?' Potter asked. The pair of us turned to him.

'Very well.' His face instantly became very smug. I twirled my wand in between my fingers and glowered at him. Potter's smirk immediately vanished to be replaced with a slightly scared expression and the three of us hurried to the scene. When we arrived, Madame Pomfrey had almost finished healing the girl. 'Well, Poppy?' Professor McGonagall asked quietly. 'Is it the same as last time?'

'Almost exactly the same.' She answered in a hushed voice. 'We need to get her to the hospital wing.'

'Miss Evans and Mister Potter, you will make sure no one sees her being moved. I'm sure she will appreciate not being gawped at.' Potter and I nodded and walked ahead. I vanished the walls I had conjured as well as the blood that covered me. The two of us headed towards the hospital wing.

'So, you found her?' he asked curiously.

'Yes.' I answered shortly.

'Who d'you think did it?' Wow, straight to the big questions. I shrugged whilst at the same time cursing my brain for forgetting who had been in that conversation. I wondered if Sirius remembered. 'I bet it was the Slytherins.' He sneered.

'What? All of them?' I snorted.

'I wouldn't put it past them.' He retorted darkly. I felt my eyebrow raise itself.

'You wouldn't put it past the entire House? I'm sorry. I must have missed the whole of Slytherin House walk past me.'

'Just because you didn't see them doesn't mean they weren't involved. I mean, they're all the same. All evil.'

'You know, Potter, I would never expect anything else coming out of your mouth but do you know how stupid you sound? Judging someone because of their House is so pointless. You can't say that cause someone's in Slytherin that they're evil. Ben's a Slytherin. Is he evil? No. What about Annabel? She's lovely. And Sev, he-'

'Oh yes. Perfect Snivellus. He can't do a single thing wrong. No. Course not.'

'You are this close to being hexed right now, Potter.' I snapped at him as I showed him a measurement between my thumb and forefinger.

'That's not very big.' He said in an aggravatingly smug voice.

'Sounds like your dick.' I muttered but unfortunately, he didn't hear me. We reached the hospital wing and the girl was taken to a bed. Madame Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall dismissed us and we headed out of the hospital wing. I decided I might look around the scene of the incident and see if there were any indicators.

'Where you headed?' Potter asked, hurrying to keep up with me.

'What's it to you?'

'I'm just curious. You are quite the intriguing person, Evans.'

'How lovely. Do you have to follow me?'

'Yes. Where are you going?' He continued to pester me.

'Fine! I'm going back to the corridor of the attack to investigate.'

'Brilliant! I'm in.' Potter began talking excitedly about solving mysteries and how he was very good at it. After all, as he said, he'd solved the mystery of Remus Lupin's monthly disappearances which obviously meant he was an expert. We arrived back at the corridor and started to look around. Unlike the previous attack's location there were no secret passages and plenty of windows lined the walls. What the two locations did have in common was the lack of portraits. That was obvious to ensure no unnoticed witnesses.

I stared around me and headed to one of the windows to see what the view was and if that would be of any use. Meanwhile, Potter walked around muttering about all the mysteries he'd solved and what skills from those he'd need now. The window I'd chosen to look out of had a window seat and heavy floor-length curtains. An idea struck me so I began examining the area around the seat and the seat itself. I scrutinised every inch of the area until… Bull's eye!

On the floor underneath the window seat, between wall and curtain, was a tiny patch of drying and crusty blood that Madame Pomfrey hadn't vanished with her cleaning spells. This bit of blood was metres away from where I'd f found the girl. How on earth did it get there? I tugged my plait and tried to think. Near me, Potter jabbered on about he and the rest of the Marauders working out that Madame Pince did have a thing for Filch the caretaker. Ahhhhhhhhh!

In an attempt to recreate the scene, I shut my eyes. In a blur of Hogwarts students rushed through my brain. As they all left an empty corridor behind them I saw a single girl walk slowly along. She moved with no apparent destination and as she reached the middle of the corridor a group of 5 people appeared opposite her. Their faces were blurred and they moved menacingly towards her. They pulled their wands out and stunned her.  
The girl fell back onto the floor and the middle figure stepped forwards and cast a spell. Instantly, I could see blood begin to stain the girl's back. Another one of the five cast a disillusionment charm on her and the remaining three carried the invisible body to the side of the corridor. They began moving the floor length curtain around the body but the sound of people stopped them mid action. People were about to turn onto the corridor so the 5 sprinted away from the scene with one of them casting another disillusionment charm on the blood on the floor as the one nearest the body tripped over it in their eagerness to exit the scene. Recovering themselves, they rushed after the rest of the group just as a whole hoard of students entered the corridor.  
If I focused intently enough, I could see the blurred edges around the body had been moved away from the curtain. A few students later and the body had been stepped on twice and lessons had started. My mind sped past the next two hours until I appeared at the end of the corridor. I saw myself walk along the corridor, shuffling in my black pumps, as I examined the hole in my robes. The body's disillusionment charm had almost worn off but still went unnoticed by me until I tripped over it. I opened my eyes again and saw Potter watching me. It dawned on me that he'd asked me a question.

'Sorry, can you repeat the question?' I asked apologetically.

'I was asking if you'd found something.' He answered irritably.

'Oh. Umm. Kind of…' I trailed off and tugged at my plait.

'And?'

* * *

It was the last lesson of the day, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and I hurried to my class hoping to catch Sirius before the teacher arrived. I'd spent a rather enjoyable lunch with Tom until I ruined by mentioning that I'd spoken to Potter. I mean, I didn't even say what we'd spoken about. Potter and I had both given statements about the attack to the Headmaster and I'd also given him a memory of each time I'd found the victim. For the previous attack, I'd only given a statement so I thought I might as well give him the memories as they would most likely be more helpful than my statement.

I reached the classroom and to my relief I spotted all the Marauders sitting in the classroom already. Peter was currently retelling a story about him turning an entire corridor of people's hair green. Remus was helping by acting out the people noticing their hair was green. I approached the boys and coughed. They all turned to face me.

'Sirius, can I talk to you? In private?' I asked and he nodded. The two of us walked a little away from the others. 'I was wondering if you could remember the names of the 5 Slytherins we overheard back in November?'

He looked at me blankly.

'You know the conversation about stuff happening after Christmas? We listened to them in the dungeons. And we had disillusionment charms on us…' I trailed off as Sirius continued to look confused.

'I don't remember that.' His eyes filled with concern. 'You alright, Lily? You haven't been yourself for a while. I mean, I've noticed you're eating normally again but…'

'I'm fine. So, you don't remember spying on 5 Slytherins with me?'

'No…How's the potion for Mooney coming along?'

'Oh, it's going great!' I said smiling slightly. 'I reckon I'm quite close to cracking it.'

'Brilliant!' Our teacher entered and the two of us took our normal seats. Marlene sat herself down on one side of me and Mary on the other side. Alice sat next to Marlene. The Girls and I settled into a DADA lesson as usual. As we began practicing a shield charm (which I could already do non-verbally) I thought about Sirius forgetting we'd ever spied on some people together. I couldn't remember the names of those involved and Sirius couldn't even recall doing it. Perhaps they'd been more aware of our presence than we'd realised and cast memory charms on us. I made a mental note to check the Founder's Library to see if it had a book on memory charms that removed specific details from your memory.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. The exams are on their way for those in Jily land so that's exciting. Please don't hate Tom. I think he's just kind of insecure about how people view him. I didn't actually mention him very much but you know what, he'll turn up again soon.**

 **Please Review :)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

 **A/N: This chapter is written in the spirit of exams (not all about exams though but it's a big thing for me at the moment). I've got mocks at the moment so I'm sympathising with everyone who's also doing exams. And revision. I feel for everyone doing that too.**

 **Next chapter's also going to be with that in mind.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

It was the Easter holidays. Students who were in 5th year and above were given the option to go home for the holidays if they wanted and that was exactly what I was doing. At present I was sat in a train compartment with Marlene doing revision as we headed home for two weeks. Alice and Mary were with their boyfriends elsewhere on the train. The train trundled through the sprawling countryside while Marlene and I poured over our books making revision notes and occasionally asking one another a question.

'Do you know the ingredients for a forgetfulness potion?' Marlene asked into the silence.

'Yeah, I've got them here.' I passed her my notes on the forgetfulness potion without looking up from my work.

'Thanks.' She said and we returned the sounds of the compartment to the scratching of quills and shifting of parchment and paper. The two of us worked undisturbed for a good hour before the compartment door slid open and we both looked up to see who it was. Tom stood in the doorway with his hands in his pockets.

'Alright?' He said, smiling slightly.

'Hi.' Marlene and I chorused.

'Lily, can we talk?' I frowned a little but nodded. Tom indicated to the corridor and I followed him out of the compartment, shutting the door behind me.

'What is it?'

'I just wanted to spend some alone time with you. We haven't hung out just the two of us in ages.'

'Sure. Not too long though. I've got revision to do.' Tom laughed.

'Whatever you want, Lily.' He slung his arm around me and the two of us looked out of the corridor window at the little town that whizzed past. 'You doing anything this holiday?'

'Not much. Helping my dad mostly. But I said I'd look over Sirius' Muggle Studies essay. Oh, and Peter and Potter's too now I think on it.' I felt him remove his arm from around me.

'Potter's essay, huh?' Tom said stiffly. I looked at him in disbelief. 'You know, you talk about Potter a lot these days.'

'And what's that supposed to mean?' I asked with a definite edge to my voice.

'What it means is that you're always talking about him. Every time I ask about your day you always say "Potter did this and Potter did that"' he answered angrily.

'That is not true!' I sighed irritably. 'Tom, where is all this coming from? You've been so possessive lately. I don't get what the issue is. Potter and I are currently working on a project together which means I just see more of him. I don't like him and he certainly doesn't like me.' Potter and I were trying to solve the mystery of the attacks together. I hadn't chosen for this to be the arrangement but Potter had insisted on being involved.

'Yeah right.' Tom sneered at me. 'That's what you say.'

'What the Hell is your problem?' I snapped at him.

'I just don't like him hanging around with my girlfriend.' He shot back.

'Exactly. I'm your girlfriend and therefore am dating you. If I didn't want to be your girlfriend, then I wouldn't be dating you. Simple as.'

'Well, all the girls like him, don't they? All think he's handsome.'

'And? I would class Sirius as good-looking but I'm not attracted to him.'

'Yeah but Potter isn't the same as Black. He _likes_ you.'

'Likes me? That's ridiculous!'

'Everyone knows it.'

'Rubbish. Just as stupid as that Potter disease thing.'

'See!?' He cried. 'You stuck up for him then. Even with the meaning of the joke!' In that moment, I could have pulled all my hair out. I didn't.

'I have no idea what you're going on about.'

'Don't play dumb with me Lily! You know exactly what I'm going on about.'

'No, I really don't. Please do enlighten me.' I said dryly.

'You _like_ him!' I stared at him. The seconds ticked by as my brain processed what Tom had said. I blinked.

'I'm sorry, I must have heard that wrong. Correct me if I'm wrong but did you just say I like Potter?' I glowered at Tom and I thought for a second that a trace of regret flickered in his eyes. 'You, Tom Clarke, are blind to reason. I do not like Potter and Potter detests me.' Tom opened his mouth to speak but I continued. 'I'm going back to my revision. Talk to me again when you've removed your head from the s-bend of a toilet.'

I stormed back into my compartment and sat angrily down in my seat. Tom too stormed off.

'Was it bad?' Marlene asked sympathetically.

'Could have been worse.' I replied as I furiously blinked back tears that were threatening to fall.

'Guys are actual pricks sometimes.' She seethed. 'Patrick started snogging his new girlfriend in front of me in the common room. It wasn't him kissing her that annoyed me but that the arsehole's just using her to make me jealous.'

'Men.' I said shaking my head. Marlene chuckled darkly.

* * *

As we pulled into the station three hours later I was significantly happier. Marlene and I collected our things and shuffled onto the platform. As I reached the magical wall between the platform and Kings Cross Station I found myself next to Tom. 'Have a good Easter.' I said smiling sadly at him before I hurried off. I found my dad waiting outside his car and I quickly dumped my stuff in the boot. Then I hugged him and the two of us got in the car. We drove swiftly away from the station and joined the London traffic.

'I hate this city.' Dad muttered and I laughed.

'Good thing we live in Cokesworth. Eh?' I said nudging Dad's arm playfully.

'Yeah.' He smiled a little. 'So, how's school?'

'Oh, you know. Stress for exams and stuff.'

'That's the worst part of school. I was never good at tests.' He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. 'What about that bloke Tom? You mentioned him in all your letters.'

'Don't even go there.'

'Rough patch, is it?' Dad chuckled. 'You're young – you'll get over it.'

'I know. He's just pissing me off at the moment.' Dad laughed a little harder and in a weird way, I appreciated he found it funny.

'Ooooh! What's he done? My Lily's cross at him! That's not a good sign.'

'Dad! You make it sound like my rath is the worst thing ever.'

'To be fair, you don't get cross at people that often. I mean, you don't hold grudges very much unless it's that James Potter you always moan about.'

'Fine.' I said in a disgruntled voice and sank into my seat.

'So, what's he done to make you pissed?'

'He's started being kind of possessive when I mention other guys. Especially, if I say Potter's name.'

'He's probably jealous.'

'Of what? Potter and I's personal vendetta against each other?' I asked sighing.

'He's a bloke. We're quick to jump to conclusions.' he answered simply.

'That's not true of all lads though.'

'No.' We pulled onto our street and the kids of Hargreaves Avenue, who had been playing football, stepped onto the pavement as my dad's ancient car moved along the cobbled road. Dad parked the car and the two of us got out. I waved at the kids and grabbed my things from inside the boot and heaved them up the stairs to our front door. Upon entering our hallway, I headed quickly for my room and leaned on my door to push it open. I began to unpack my things and once I was done, I went into the kitchen and started making dinner. Dad was downstairs in the bakery and I opened the fridge to see if there was anything I could cook.

An hour later and I had a soup simmering on the hob. I heard the front door open and shut. Then, footsteps in the hall. Dad entered the kitchen with a grin on his face.

'Guess what I found out.'

'What?'

'Maggie's throwing a party tonight and you're invited. She wants you to go over to hers early so you can get ready together.' He said still grinning. 'Perfect thing to get your mind off that Tom.'

'Do I have to go?' I asked groaning.

'Yes! Now let's eat some of that soup. It smells great.'

* * *

Much to my disgust, I found myself heading to Maggie's house across the road from my own. I knocked on her door and Mrs Jenkins answered.

'Lily!' she said beaming and hugged me before her face turned to scowl. 'The party's down in my flat but we need to get you ready.' Mrs Jenkins chivvied me through Maggie and Jeff's home into their room where Maggie was. She sat on her bed applying mascara.

'Hi.' I said as Mrs Jenkins left muttering about checking if all the beer was still in her kitchen. Maggie grinned and motioned for me to sit opposite her. I obeyed and she immediately set to work as she nattered about who was coming.

'I've got all my mates from school coming and Jeff's friends will also be there. Some of my cousins are coming and they're always a laugh. I said to Michael he can stay for bit but can you make sure he stays away from the booze? I know he's just turned 13 but I don't want him drinking. It's going to be so fun!' She giggled happily. Sometimes you could forget Maggie was only 29 because she was a mum of 5 kids.

Eventually, the two of us left Maggie's room and headed down to the bottom half of the building. I was wearing one of Maggie's old dresses that showed a little too much leg for my liking and way too much boob. Soon after our appearance downstairs the guests began arriving. Maggie disappeared off to go and socialise with her mates. I found Michael and the two of us sipping non-alcoholic beverages. Together we judged the guests who were getting steadily more intoxicated as the night progressed. Two hours into the party and a tipsy Jeff came over to inform Michael that he needed to head to bed so I mournfully said goodbye to him and returned to watching those around me. I tilted my head slightly as one of Maggie's school friends managed to trip spectacularly over an entire sofa.

'Weird, aren't they?' a voice said behind me and I jumped in surprise. Turning to see who had spoken I saw a boy of around my age with a handsome face and blonde hair. 'Jack.' He said holding out his hand which I shook. 'Maggie's my cousin.'

'Lily. Maggie's my neighbour.' I introduced myself. Jack nodded.

'She's mentioned you before. I think we're the same age.'

'Well, I'm 16 so…'

'I just turned 17 but close enough.'

And that was how I spent the next two hours. Jack and I chatted about anything and everything while around us drunken adults danced. I found out that Jack wanted to be a plumber like his dad and that his older brother was dating his best mate whose name was Sue. How I'd found this out I wasn't particularly sure but I knew those facts nonetheless.

'Shall we go outside for a bit?' I suggested. The room we were in was extremely stuffy and he nodded gratefully. The two of us headed outside and sat down on the pavement curb, each holding a bottle of something. Mine was a bottle of water and his was a bottle of beer.

'So, Lily. I've told you loads about me. Tell me something about you.' I looked at him. His mouth was curved in a smile.

'I hate peas.' He laughed.

'Tell me something that no one else knows about you.'

'Umm…Let's think. There's this bloke in my class called James Potter and he's quite full of himself. I don't actually mind him that much but everyone thinks I hate him. It's only a mild dislike.' I confessed casually and strangely I felt like I was admitting it to myself for the first time as well.

'Interesting. I don't think I can imagine you not liking someone.'

'Perhaps you should try harder.' I suggested and took a swig of my water. He was silent for a moment.

'Nope. Still can't imagine it.' He paused. 'You got a boyfriend?' he asked casually.

'Yes.' I said firmly. Well, after that argument with Tom I wasn't one hundred percent sure.

'I'll take that as a no then.' He said smirking. I noticed that his smirk made me squirm uncomfortably. It was weird since Potter smirked at me a lot and although it annoyed me I never squirmed when he did it.

'I'm pretty sure I do.' Again, I wasn't sure.

'Oh, stop playing hard to get.' His face moved closer to mine as I tried to lean away from him. 'You know you want me.' Jack purred and I felt him crush his lips onto mine. His tongue forced its way into my mouth as I tried to move away. His arms clamped around me as I struggled. I wriggled my arms out of his grip and attempted to push him off me as his hands slithered their way up my legs and underneath my dress. They snaked their way up my back and began fumbling with my bra strap. My arms tried furiously to pry him off me and eventually I elbowed him in the stomach which caused Jack to fall off me.

Swiftly, I stood up and I began backing away towards my house. Jack made a grab for me but I dodged him and rushed up the stairs to my front door and opened it.

'Why'd you dress like a slag if you weren't gonna act like one?' he yelled after me. When I shut the door behind me, I tiptoed into the bathroom so as not to wake my dad. Once inside, I stripped out of the clothes Maggie had made me wear and headed into the shower. Furiously, I began to scrub my body. I felt so unclean and even when I was red raw I still felt dirty. I turned off the shower and got ready for bed.

I walked across the hallway into my room wrapped in a towel. I changed into my pyjamas and slipped into bed. Silent tears rolled down my face as I looked at my ceiling. I felt as though I done something wrong. My hand reached for my dreamless sleep potion and I took some of it before being overcome by fatigue.

* * *

The Girls and I had arranged to meet up one day in Diagon Alley for a girl's day out. I wasn't particularly excited for the shopping which I knew would take place but a day of no boys was extremely welcome. Our decided meeting place was Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. I had arrived a little early and set about browsing the types of ice cream.

'Hey Lily.' Said a voice from next to me. It was Ben. His dad was Mr Florean Fortescue himself. I'd always got on quite well with Ben but the second he spoke my brain registered him as male and began to panic. I began making sure my oversized jumper covered every inch of my top half.

'H-hi.' I replied as I attempted to calm my pounding heart.

'You meeting the Girls by any chance?'

'Mmm.'

'Oh cool. Listen, I was wondering if you could tell me something.'

'Me?' I squeaked. 'What could I tell you?' I laughed awkwardly and my ears filled the beating of my heart. Calming down was apparently not possible. I took a small step back to try and ease my brain which was freaking out. Ben noticed nothing.

'I've got two things. Umm… I was wondering with the whole Frank/Alice situation. Does she still like him cause he's still acting like an abandoned puppy?'

'There's been a complication but it's also a good thing.' I tugged at my plait.

'What d'you mean?' I coughed uncomfortably.

'Warren McClaggen.'

'Wa-WARREN McCLAGGEN!' he exclaimed and shook his head despairingly. 'We're screwed.'

'N-n-not necessarily.'

'Not necessarily?' he said incredulously. 'We're talking about Warren bloody McClaggen! Frank's one of my best mates but he doesn't stand a chance against that bloke.'

'Well, he's got an advantage.'

'And what's that then?'

'Alice likes him.'

'But she likes McClaggen as well.'

'Just think though. Once we help Frank and Alice to be friends again she'll be confident of her feelings for him and not even look twice at McClaggen.'

Ben stared at me for a long time. My brain had finally concluded he wasn't about to pounce on me but I was still glad for the step back I'd taken earlier. He started chuckling.

'You, Lily Evans, have a high regard of people.' I paused before speaking.

'What was the other thing you wa-'

'LILY EVANS!' screeched through my speech and through the whole ice cream parlour which was mercifully empty except two people on a date in a booth near the back. They were too immersed with their snogging to notice any events happening around them. 'What are you doing with a BOY?'

'Hi Marls.' I said smiling at her.

'I was under the impression that we'd agreed to a boy free day.'

'Yes, but it doesn't count as you hadn't turned up when I arrived.'

'Fine. But no more talking to him. Is that understood?'

'Yes Ma'am.' I said with a salute. We said goodbye to Ben and headed out onto the street to find Mary and Alice as the ice cream parlour wasn't free of males you had to interact with. We spotted the other two standing next to the entrance. The four of us headed to Madame Malkin's because Mary said she had a surprise for us. Upon reaching the shop I noticed it was completely empty with the exception of Madame Malkin herself. We entered the shop.

'Welcome Ladies. Miss McDonald, we have the whole shop to ourselves today so your appointment will be without disturbance.'

Alice, Marlene and I all turned the now beaming Mary with questioning expressions.

'We're doing bride and bridesmaid dress shopping!' she shrieked in delight. Alice squealed excitedly, Marlene swore but had a large grin plastered on her face and I smiled. Mary had, of course, accepted Andrew's proposal and their wedding was scheduled during the summer holidays in July.

'If you'd like to follow me.' We followed Madame Malkin into a large airy room lined with what seemed like hundreds of dresses lining the walls. A small table with high tea on it was set up in the centre of the room. Around the table were four comfy armchairs. 'I think it best to choose the Bride's dress first. That way the Bridesmaid dresses can be chosen to compliment it.'

'Perfect!' Mary said happily and that was exactly we did. Two hours later and Mary had chosen her dress. It was a floor-length dress with a plain lower half. The bodice was covered in a lace pattern and the three-quarter length sleeves were made of the same lace. Mary looked absolutely stunning in it and reminded me of a model I'd seen in Witch Weekly's wedding edition when Mary had first announced her engagement and started planning. Alice got a little teary eyed and Marlene began blinking furiously saying she had something in her eye. Mary just laughed and said she hoped it would still suit her in her 7-month pregnant state which Madame Malkin assured would be the case.

Then we moved onto bridesmaid dress. Marlene, Alice and I were instructed to strip down into our underwear one by one so that accurate measurements could be made. When it was my turn I nervously removed my clothes, and winced at the gasps from the other three.

'Oh Lily…When did this happen?' Mary asked horror-struck. I always seemed to lose weight when I stayed at home and I was already thinner due to umm…previous events.

'It's not as bad as it was.' Was the only answer I gave them and Madame Malkin began taking my measurements. The dresses we chose were a pale greyish blue colour. They were loose floor-length dresses that were strapless with two kind of straps of material that hung loosely around our upper arm (just below our shoulders).

'We are going to the fucking best looking Bridesmaids ever.' Marlene stated.

'Don't forget the Bride!' Alice chipped in and wiped her eyes.

'Obviously.' The four of us did a group hug before going to change back into her own clothes. Mary insisted on paying for all the dresses and once we left the shop we all went our separate ways back home: Marlene to her large mansion, Alice to her country house, Mary to her big house in the outskirts of London and me to my flat above my family bakery in Cokesworth.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. Admittedly, there wasn't as much about exams as I first thought there would be buuuuuuuuuuuuuuut next chapter is probably when the exams are going to start.**

 **Please Review :)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

 **A/N: This chapter isn't as exam related as planned. Let's call it the calm before the storm or in other words exams.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

Dad and I were driving into London with a destination of Kings Cross Station. For the past hour, we'd been discussing school and had now reached the topic of James Potter. I'd just described the argument Potter and I had had in the Library about cleaning a few months prior.

'Lils, I don't think you need to be so hard on the bloke. You can't blame him for some of the things he says. I'll admit some of the stuff this bloke comes out with are way below the belt but you've got to remember: he's rich. And rich people like him grow up not lifting a single bleeding finger. I'll bet he's never had to do a single thing in his life but that's cause he doesn't need to. People like him can't function without servants.' Dad said evenly.

'Yeah, I guess.' I replied.

'Take your mum's brother George, for example. I've met up him a few times since Christmas and he's a decent bloke but blooming heck can he not function without a load of servants. You know, posh ones like him even need help getting dressed!'

'True. But I don't think Potter's quite that bad.'

'We're from a different kind of people, you and me. Tough is what we are and soft is what they are.' Dad chuckled to himself and I smiled slightly, glad that he'd said what he said. Perhaps I needed a different outlook on Potter. Perhaps he wasn't too bad. We were just from different backgrounds and therefore had different views of the world. 'So, you hate this Potter then? I mean, you've only ever complained about him.'

'No. I don't hate him. He's just very different from me and values different things. He loves unexpected things, breaking rules and adventure and I love plans, rules and staying in my comfort zone. It makes it hard to be friends when you're complete opposites.'

'I remember you used to love adventure. You and Sev would go and sneak around town and explore the gardens of the big houses.' Dad said reminiscently.

'Yeah. I remember once we snuck into one of the houses and almost got locked in.' I said, smiling sadly. Dad laughed.

'I forgot about that! You're mum and Eileen gave you a right telling off. I'm pretty sure I almost pissed myself laughing when you told me how you escaped.'

'Something along the lines of "I released their pet python and the housekeeper fainted." I haven't done anything like that since.'

'What happened to you, Lils? You're my daughter and yet I'm still shocked at how different you are from that little kid who ran around picking flowers in the gardens of the big houses.'

'I grew up, dad. That night mum collapsed for the first time and I was pretty sure she wouldn't have if she hadn't used her energy shouting at me.' I admitted. Dad turned to face me with an expression of deepest guilt.

'You mean, you've blamed yourself for your mum's illness this whole time. Why didn't you say so?'

'I accept blame so there's no need to put it on someone else.' Dad opened his mouth to speak as he pulled up in front of the station but I got out of the car before he could say anything. He stepped out of the other side and the two of us brought my things to a trolley. I dumped my things in it and hugged my dad goodbye. 'Bye!' I called after him as he made his way back to the car. Once at the car, he turned and waved. I returned the gesture before heading towards the entrance of platform 9 and 3/4.

Half-heartedly, I entered the platform and dragged my things onto the train. I began to move up the train to find an empty compartment which I found surprisingly easily. Upon finding one, I headed inside and stowed my things in the luggage rack minus my school bag which I began searching in for a mascara. I found it at of the bottom of my bag and quickly put some on before replacing it and pulling out my beloved copy of Pride and Prejudice. The train sputtered into action as I began to read.

 _ELIZABETH, AS THEY DROVE ALONG, watched for the first appearance of Pemberley Woods with some perturbation; and when at length they turned in at the lodge, her spirits were in a high flutter._

 _The park was very large, and contained great variety of ground. They entered it in one of its lowest points, and drove for some time through a beautiful wood, stretching over a wide extent._

 _Elizabeth's mind was too full for conversation, but she saw and admired every remarkable spot and point of view. They gradually ascended for half a mile, and then found themselves at the top of a considerable eminence, where the wood ceased, and the eye was instantly caught by Pemberley House, situated on the opposite side of a valley, into which the road, with some abruptness, wound. It was a large, handsome, stone building, standing well on rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills; and in front, a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its banks were neither formal, nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They were all of them warm in their admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!_

 _They descended the hill, crossed the bridge, and drove to the door; and, while examining the nearer aspect of the house, all her apprehensions of meeting its owner returned. She dreaded lest the chambermaid had been mistaken. On applying to see the place, they were admitted into the hall; and Elizabeth, as they waited for the housekeeper, had leisure to wonder at her being where she was._

The train rattled along the tracks. At present, we were travelling through a forest. The gnarled oak trees told me we were still in England. I sat alone in my compartment with only Pride and Prejudice and my revision for company. In all honesty, I didn't really mind and in an attempt to stay alone for the whole journey I had pulled the blind down over the compartment door. Hopefully, people would take it as a sign not to disturb me. The blinds were fairly successful until about an hour before we were due to reach Hogsmeade when the door slid open. I looked up from my revision to see Potter beaming at me.

'Evans! I've found you at last.' He exclaimed and entered the compartment with an over exaggerated stride dragging his trunk behind him. The corners of my mouth twitched slightly. He shut the door behind him and plonked himself on the seat opposite me.

'Hello.' I answered. I tried to keep in mind what my dad had said.

'I have just been speaking with the delightful Tom Clarke.' He began.

'Have you?' I asked with mock interest.

'And he told me that the two of you were in a little rough patch.' Potter's smile seemed to widen slightly.

'How nice.' I said in a bored voice returning to my revision.

'You don't seem very interested. I mean, Clarke is your boyfriend and everything.'

'Yes, Potter.' I said tersely. 'And don't you think I would've already known I was in a rough patch with my boyfriend? You're talking as though this should be news to me.'

'I suppose.' He muttered looking slightly put out. 'So how was your Easter?'

'Not bad.' I answered quickly as my heart rate began to speed up. Potter looked at me strangely but didn't say anything. 'Yours?'

'Alright. I mean, the first week I was at school but the second week I went with my parents to our holiday house in West Germany. Padfoot's mother wouldn't let him come and Mooney and Wormtail did revision all holiday. I was alone for the whole of that week.'

'Poor you.' I said with very little sympathy in my voice. He stayed in his 'holiday house', did he? Oh, boo hoo. His life was just so terrible. My Dad and I could save for years and never be able to afford go on holiday let alone buy a holiday house. It wasn't that Potter had a holiday house that annoyed me but that he wasn't grateful for it. He didn't see how lucky he was. Wow, I was just completely and utterly listening to what dad had said.

'Yeah, it was pretty bad. I don't speak German so I couldn't even do anything without my mother. She can speak German. Father and I don't have the ability.'

'Mmm.'

'So, what did you do?'

'Not much.' Potter rolled his eyes at my lack of detail so I continued. 'Helped around the house, revision, went to my neighbour's party, went shopping with the Girls and that was about it.'

'Wow. Even your holidays are boring.'

'Thanks.'

'You should leave your house more. Seriously. Go on holiday somewhere or something.'

'I do leave my house!' I said indignantly with a smile playing about my lips.

'Really?'

'Yes, really. I go to the shops for stuff.' The two of us started laughing. Yes, I was laughing with Potter.

I glanced out of the window just as the outskirts of Hogsmeade came into view. The houses with wilder gardens soon passed and the train pulled into the station. Potter and I both stood up and picked up our things. We headed out of the compartment and stepped off the train onto the platform.

* * *

The first day back after the Easter Holidays arrived and I found myself waiting outside my transfiguration classroom with Mary, Marlene and Alice. The rest of our class milled around us as all of us waited for the appearance of Professor McGonagall.

'Why can't I get over him?' Alice moaned. 'It's been almost 6 months, half a year, and I'm still like a teenage girl in every book ever.'

'Babes, you are a teenage girl.' Mary pointed out.

'I thought dating Warren would help but I still feel like shit.' She grumbled.

'It'll take time.' Marlene said and Mary instantly looked at her suspiciously. Admittedly, Marlene talking like that was almost unheard of. Mary opened her mouth but I stepped on her foot and gave her a 'later' expression. Oh, the joy of school robes. They were perfect for undetected acts of violence. Alice noticed nothing as she was watching Frank mournfully.

'On the topic of the male species, how's things with you, Marls?' Mary asked with a wicked grin playing about her lips. I smiled at my shoes as Marlene tensed up.

'I-I don't know what you mean.' She answered, trying and failing to seem innocent.

'Sooo, if I said a certain Kieran McKinnon was dating Harriet Ross in our year, you wouldn't be the slightest bit bothered?' Mary asked slyly.

'No.' Marlene said shortly with the expression of one who had just swallowed a lemon. She was met by Mary and Alice's raised eyebrows as I picked at the hole in my robes. 'Fine. A bit pissed but that's it.'

'Okay.' Mary said still smiling. 'You know, I heard that he and Harriet were found in a broom cupboard together just before the holidays and Harriet was only in-'

'Why don't we go in and sit down?' I cut across loudly because Marlene looked as though she was about to rip Mary's head off and the fact that I had been the one to discover them on my Prefect rounds with Remus. I was mentally scarred from that round. The others all agreed and we headed to our normal seats. Well, Mary and I swapped because Marlene refused to sit next to Mary. When Professor McGonagall's lesson began, Marlene sat in stony silence and glowered at all her stationery as though it had all done her great personal wrong. Professor McGonagall lectured us as I listened intently. In the corner of my eye I could see Marlene ripping apart her quill.

* * *

The bell sounded just outside our classroom to signal the end of our double period and the start of break. There was a great scrambling for thing as the scrapping of chairs. Marlene stormed out of the classroom and I gently pushed Mary forward nodding after Marlene.

'Apologise.' I muttered and Mary groaned but followed after the recently departed Marlene nevertheless. Alice mumbled something about meeting Warren and hurried off. I supposed I'd better talk to Tom and find out if he'd stopped being stupid but as I entered the courtyard a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me back. Surprised, I turned around and faced Ben. 'Ben!' I said. 'Hi.'

'Can we talk?' he asked and I nodded. Ben led me to a secluded part of the courtyard. 'It's about the other thing I wanted to ask if you knew.'

'Okaay?' I looked at him expectantly.

'Does Marlene like Kieran?' he asked and his eyes watched my face closely. I studied him for a moment.

'Why do you want to know?'

'I'll tell you once you answer my question.'

'Yes…she does. Why?'

'Well, Kieran's dating Harriet Ross.'

'Yeeees. I was aware of the fact.' Fucking broom cupboards. Why couldn't people stick to their dormitories?

'She's an absolute bitch and he can't see it. I thought he liked Marlene but now he's head over heels for Ross.'

'And why did you want to know if Marlene likes him?'

'I want to try split them up.' I narrowed my eyes at Ben. That was a pretty horrible thing to do. 'Look. He's driving me up the wall the amount he goes on about her and after all his hero-worshipping she's an absolute slut. I reckon she'll cheat on him and I'd rather their relationship ended on his terms. Then when they do split up, he'll find out Marlene likes him and cheer up.'

'I'm not sure that'll work.' I said slowly.

'It'll be fine.' He dismissed with a wave of his hand.

'Well, just make sure you don't hurt anyone. I'll see you around, I suppose.' I said and excused myself. Wondering where I should go, I decided I would indeed try making amends with Tom as I had originally planned. It seemed like the right thing to do.

I spotted Tom sitting in an alcove with George and George's girlfriend. As per usual when George's girlfriend was present he looked slightly abandoned. Slowly, I wandered over. I knew it was pointless to let our argument go on much longer but I was still slightly apprehensive in approaching him. What if we argued again and caused a scene?

He noticed me and his face split into a cautious smile. I returned the smile and indicated my head toward the grounds. Tom understood my meaning and got up following me into the grounds. We stood in silence for a moment and simply looked over the view in front of us.

'Lily?' Tom said uncertainly and I turned to face him and realised he'd been watching me. 'I'm sorry for being a git.'

'That's okay. I'm sorry for the stuff I said too.'

'No. It's not okay. I was a jealous prick and you were right. I've been really possessive lately.' I wasn't sure how to react do I just hugged him. Tom put his arms around me and I looked up at him.

'I forgive you.' I said smiling. The two of us remained like that until the bell rang and we had to head off to class. I went off to Care of Magical Creatures and spotted Mary and Marlene already there. The two seemed to have made up and were chatting.

'You know Sam Davis is back with Bertha Jorkins.' Mary was saying.

'Oh no.' I said dryly as I joined the conversation. Marlene smirked and Mary rolled her eyes.

'Didn't see that coming. I mean, they've got nothing in common.' Marlene said.

'Definitely the sex.' Mary answered straight away. 'There's no other explanation.'

'I agree.'

'I mean, she wasn't going to find someone else who'd let her take notes at the same time.'

Marlene and Mary snickered as I groaned.

'Do you two have nothing better to do than gossip about people's sex lives?' I asked in disgruntled tones.

'Nope!' they chorused.

'Davis isn't bad either. I should know.' Marlene continued.

'Yeah, you lost your virginity with him, didn't you?' Mary asked thoughtfully and Marlene nodded. 'Talking of losing your virginity, did you hear Freya McMillan lost hers with Michael Boot?'

'No, Mary.' I said dully.

'Lily, you really need to listen out more. She's been going on about it since breakfast.' Mary nagged.

'Sorry.' I muttered just as Professor Kettleburn arrived. As we split off into our usual pairs for sketching creatures I realised that Alice wasn't there. This was odd because she loved Care of Magical Creatures and had never missed a class. I looked around but saw no sign of her. Interesting...

* * *

Classes ended and the students of Hogwarts headed to the Great Hall in hope of filling their stomachs with the delicious food cooked by the House Elves. Mary and Marlene walked ahead in a very unconcerned manner, cackling about something or other, whilst I hung back trying to find Alice. She hadn't shown up to any of our other classes of the day and I was starting to worry. Thinking she might be in the dormitory I headed there and slowly opened the door. My guess had been correct for Alice lay on her bed with her back to me. Carefully, I closed the door behind me and walked around Alice's bed to face her. I sat down on the floor in front of her and looked at the tearstained face that was opposite me.

'He cheated on me.' Alice whispered as a fresh set of tears rolled down her cheeks. I tucked her hair behind her ear in a motherly fashion.

'Oh, Alice.' I said sadly.

'I-I-I thought he liked me b-b-but he said that I w-was just a bit of…fun.' Alice spat the last word before starting to sob.

'But the not sleeping with anyone since September? The Potter Disease thing? What was that?' I asked confused as left my spot on the floor and sat down next to Alice.

'H-h-he's slept with loads of girls since September but in s-secret s-s-s-so he can g-get with a new set of girls. The quiet ones w-who don't go for players.' Alice sniffled.

'That is disgusting.' I said with my voice full of contempt. She continued to weep next to me and I whispered words of comfort to her. I thought then that telling her that Frank liked her might not be a bad idea so while Alice cried quietly into her pillow I told her the events of the Masked Ball and the aftermath of it from Frank's perspective. When I'd finished my re-telling, I turned my head to see Alice sitting up staring at me.

'Really?' she asked with a little happiness returning to her voice. 'You mean it?'

'Yes. He still likes you.' Alice hugged me with a small smile on her tear streaked face. 'Don't worry about McClaggen. He's just an idiot so don't dwell on him.'

'Men are so weird.' Alice said with a slight chuckle.

'What strange creatures' men are. What do they want from us?' I quoted Sense and Sensibility with a grin on my face. Alice didn't get the reference. I knew Alice would get over McClaggen quickly as her feelings for him had been extremely uncertain to say the least. She still hurt from him cheating on her but the knowledge that Frank Longbottom still fancied her was enough fuel to recover swiftly.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I felt so uninspired this chapter that I'm just glad I produced something. Next chapter will probably mention exams but not History of Magic yet because the Incident isn't quite set up to happen yet.**

 **Please Review :)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

 **A/N: Welcome back to Jily land. I'm really looking forward to eventually reaching 6** **th** **and 7** **th** **year but we're not quite there yet. Currently, the exams are upon the Marauder's generation and alongside that, we got a little friendship stuff and maybe even a bit with Tom.**

 **About Tom, I realise I made him seem slightly dickish but that wasn't on purpose (sort of). I was trying to establish other people's opinions of him.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The first exam of the O.W.L period had arrived. In the morning, I had my Charms theory exam and in the afternoon, I had my Charms practical exam. My fellow fifth years and I waited apprehensively outside the double doors leading into the Great Hall. None of us conversed with one another as we were all too immersed in our last desperate revision time. All around me people muttered to themselves. With the exception of Sirius and Potter who were sitting on the floor playing a game of exploding snap. I envied those two. To be able to spend the last few minutes before an exam playing a card game was something I could only dream of doing.

'In your face, Potter!' Sirius yelled gleefully as the cards exploded in Potter's face. The explosion caused Potter's left eyebrow to catch alight.

'Don't just laugh, Pads. Do something!' Potter cried as Sirius rolled on the floor clutching at his stomach. Everyone else seemed too engrossed in frantic attempts to remember their revision to notice so I reluctantly headed over to help. Sirius couldn't stop laughing and even I, despite my nerves about the exam, had to bite back a smile as I saw Potter squealing about his eyebrow. Casually, I conjured some water and extinguished the burning eyebrow. 'My eyebrow…It's gone.' Potter said tragically. 'I'll never be the same again!'

'Oh hush.' I said swatting away his hand as it tried feel what remained of Potter's left eyebrow. I prodded the skin that had once had an eyebrow on with my wand and healed the burns on it. Then I set about re-growing Potter's left eyebrow. 'That alright?' I asked, conjuring up a compact mirror so that he could see my handiwork.

'Brilliant, Evans!' he said delightedly and turned to Sirius who had tears of mirth in his eyes. 'Some help you were.' Potter grumbled.

'Sorry, mate.' Sirius replied. His apology was slightly ruined by his shoulders, which were still shaking with laughter, and the fact that he wiped away tears as he spoke. The doors into the Great Hall opened.

'Oh no.' I whispered, absolutely petrified.

'Don't worry, Evans. It'll be fine.' Potter squeezed my shoulder as we headed into the Hall. I smiled at him upon reaching the double doors and the two of us wished each other luck. As I turned to wish Sirius good luck, I was met with a Sirius Black wearing an expression that was a mixture between triumph and smugness.

'What?' I asked suspiciously. Sirius simply grinned at me in a dreamy type of fashion.

'Good Luck!' He said and waltzed off with the air of someone on top of the world.

'Good Luck!' I said after him. Begrudgingly, I took my allocated seat and began writing my name on top of the exam paper. The Ministry Invigilator stood at the front of Great Hall staring coldly at each one of us in turn. Alongside her stood the four Heads of Houses. Luckily, they didn't look as unwelcoming, even Professor McGonagall. Once everyone had sat down and written their names on the exam paper we were all told to face the front. My heart beat began to pick up pace at a slightly alarming rate. I took deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself.

'You are about to sit your O.W.L Grade Charms Paper. If anyone in this room does not have this paper in front of them then please raise your hand.' No one raised their hand so the Invigilator continued. 'You will have one hour and thirty minutes to complete your Charms Theory Examination. During this exam, there will be no talking whatsoever. Anyone caught communicating with someone else or caught cheating will have their paper confiscated and be disallowed from continuing and be disqualified from any further Charms exams. Should you need extra parchment, quills, ink or any other assistance in the duration of the exam then raise your hand and wait for a member of staff to come to you. Before you begin, does anyone have any questions?'

The Invigilator's gaze flicked in my direction and seemed to glower at me. Then they looked away as someone had their hand up. The Invigilator nodded at them.

Eventually, all questions were asked and the Invigilator moved around a table which stood behind them. On this table was a huge hourglass embellished with purple glass handles. The Invigilator turned the hourglass on its head. I tugged my plait.

'You may begin.'

The sound which followed was something I could only equate to rats leaving a sinking ship as quills began feverishly scratching. Not such a good omen…

I looked at the first question. _Explain the function of the incantation Accio [1 mark]._ That was something I could easily answer. The next question was also something I could answer. _Describe the dangers of mispronouncing an incantation [3 marks]._

The rest of the exam continued with things I'd revised including a 12-mark question on the importance of Banishing Charms. A small smile crept onto my exam concentration face (a name affectionately given by my dear girlfriends) as the image of banishing Sirius to the other side of the common room because he'd tried to hug me after a very sweaty Quidditch practice in third year came into view.

Suspicion of my exam paper struck me as I finished it with a little of the sand still remaining in the top section of the hourglass. All previous practice papers I had done had left me writing until the last second but now I had a good 5 minutes left. After checking my paper through three times, I came to the conclusion that adrenaline had spurred me on to answer extremely quickly. Well, I told myself that but I would've been lying if I said I stopped panicking. I narrowed my eyes at my paper trying to decide if it was concealing something from me. Nothing. Not a single question I hadn't answered. I glanced up to the table with the hourglass on it and watched the last of the sand trickle into the bottom section.

'And time's up. Can everyone please stop writing now.' The sound of quills scratching on parchment ceased immediately. I adjusted my school skirt as the papers were summoned by Professor McGonagall so that I didn't have to catch any of my friends' eyes. Now that the papers had been collected in I came to the conclusion that all my answers were awful. Why my brain hadn't decided this when I'd still had the opportunity to change them was a mystery to me. Stupid Lily.

Once the papers were all collected in we were dismissed and all the fifth years and I headed back to our common rooms or the library for more revision. I hung back and waited for the Girls. The now 6 month pregnant Mary hobbled over to me.

'I swear I'm too pregnant for this shit.' She said as she reached me. I chuckled despite the lingering feeling of panic in me.

'I don't think that counts as an excuse.' I said in response and she set about muttering curses to the Ministry Invigilator as Marlene and Alice arrived. As the four of us headed through the Entrance Hall Marlene began telling us about the person sat in front of her in the exam.

'Absolute slag. No doubt about it. You could see her fake tan line a centimetre under her hair line. Her hair was tied in one of those hairstyles. You know, the slutty hairstyle that Rita Skeeter and Bertha Jorkins have. She spent half the test just staring out the window. I mean, hello? Does she know this is her fucking O. W. Ls?'

'And who exactly was this absolute slag?' Alice asked with the corners of her mouth twitching upwards.

'That Harriet Ross. You know, Kieran's _girlfriend_.' She said with disgust.

'Oh yeah. That slag.' Mary said as she tried not to laughed. Alice did an extremely loud cough that sounded quite a lot like 'Jealous much?'. I snorted but was saved from Marlene's glare by the Fat Lady asking for the password. This quickly pushed the conversation out of our minds as the prospect of more revision hit home.

* * *

The practical exam that afternoon passed with little excitement and I sat at dinner writing down all the things that could possibly go wrong in the future if I failed my O. W. Ls; I stopped this exercise after Marlene threatened to tip an entire pot of hot soup over me if I didn't stop asking for scenarios. It dawned on me as I forced myself to take a mouthful of soup that I hadn't taken my appetite potion that morning due to the distraction that was the fact that we had our first O.W.L exam in a few hours. This revelation was promptly followed by a sudden wish to visit the loos so I dashed off reaching the cubicle in the nick of time. I had barely knelt in front of the toilet before I regurgitated what felt like the whole of my insides. My heart rate calmed down a little before the second lot of vomit surfaced.

I shut my eyes and conjured a glass of water with my wand. Steadily, I took soothing sips. The cold water was welcomed by the rest of my body as I leaned against the cubicle wall. A few minutes later I vanished the glass and got up from the floor. Leaving the cubicle and heading to one of the mirrors above the sinks I cleaned myself up before leaving the loo. I supposed I might as well head up to my dormitory rather than return to dinner and eat nothing. I exited the Girl's Bathroom.

'Evans?' Potter's voice sounded from a little to my right. He was a little way down the corridor and hurried to reach me.

'Hi.' I said turning to face him.

'You alright?' he asked with concern in his voice as his eyes roved over my face. I shrugged.

'Exams.' Was my short response. I felt a little like I'd wanted to elaborate and perhaps Potter sensed this because he said:

'D'you want to talk about it?' to which I shook my head. Sharing my problems? What a stupid idea.

'Well, I'd better go do some Defence Against the Dark Arts revision.' I said a tad awkwardly. 'If I do any more History of Magic I reckon I'll go mad.'

'I'll join you then. You don't mind, right?' I shook my head and the two of us headed to the common room. Revising with Potter was something I could only describe as fun. It was also surprisingly helpful and Potter and I spent a good two hours in each other's company testing one another and comparing notes.

'Go on Evans. Do the first spell you think of.' Potter said leaning back in his chair. I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

'What? On you?' I asked.

'Well, you could cast it on those first years over there...' he said pointing at a group of first years, including Amy, with a grin spreading across his face. I groaned.

'If you're sure.' I said uncertainly and directed my wand at Potter. In my head I thought of a spell that wouldn't cause any harm and I non-verbally cast the full body bind curse. Instantly, Potter's entire body froze so that nothing moved except his eyes which rolled in their sockets. At this I stuck my tongue out at him and then quickly performed the counter-curse because I felt too guilty.

'Wow, Evans.' Potter said smirking. Perhaps he would have been better off with the curse still on him. 'That was the most creative choice ever!'

'I'm sorry.' I said bowing my head in mock shame. 'I didn't realise it had to be creative.'

'Allow me to demonstrate.' Potter rolled up his sleeves in an extravagant manner. There was a small pause as he flourished his wand before a scorch mark appeared on the table between us. I did three slow claps before speaking.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, drumroll please.' Potter obliged at the same time as pulling a face. 'The prize for the most successful and incredible Defence Against the Dark Arts spell goes to a Mr James Potter!' Then I transfigured a piece of scrap parchment into a trophy and handed it to Potter. 'Congratulations, old chap!' I said in an imitation of my Uncle George. 'You did well.' I thumped him on the back and then shook his hand enthusiastically. All the while, Potter wore an expression that was a mixture between delight, amusement and disgruntlement. Honestly, what was it with people and their confusing facial expressions? First Sirius and now Potter. Who next?

* * *

The next morning I awoke at 6.00 am and stared through the gap in my hangings. I could see the window through it which in itself revealed a clear day. The sunlight poured through the window panes which I took to be a good omen for today's History of Magic exam. Slowly, I got out of bed and took dose of appetite potion. Then I headed into the bathroom and got ready before grabbing my bag and leaving the dormitory. I made my way to the Great Hall for breakfast and sat myself down. Pouring myself some cereal, I realised that I wasn't panicking about the exam like I had for my Charms exam. Weird. I tucked into my cereal with an air of suspicion in regards to my state of mind.

Being calm about an exam was unheard of when talking about me. Yes, on the outside I appeared composed but on the inside I would always have a mental break down in the hours, seconds and minutes leading up to a test. And yet today there was no trace of panic. I found myself watching some first years who were worrying about their Potions end of year exam. Oh, what innocent first years. If they thought their exams were stressful then they had another thing coming. I smiled reminiscently as I thought of my own first year. The things I had thought stressful seemed like a dream compared with the things that caused stress for me now. Uninvited came the sound of my first-year-self admitting a crush to Mary, Marlene and Alice.

 **2** **nd** **July 1971**

'Do I have to?' I asked timidly as I tugged at my plait. I sat cross-legged in a circle on the floor of my dormitory with Marlene, Alice and Mary.

'You shouldn't have chosen truth if you didn't want to answer a question.' Marlene said simply.

'But I-'

'Lily, we're not going to tell anyone.' Mary reassured me. I looked at my hands and began twisting my fingers nervously.

'Promise?'

'Promise.' All three of them answered.

'James Potter.' I mumbled and promptly turned scarlet. Mary let out a triumphant squawk at the same time as Alice and Marlene yelled 'I knew it!'.

 **Returning to July 1976**

I'd forgotten about that. The hundreds of games of Truth or Dare in my first year had all merged together in my memories. Being able to recall a particular moment within those memories was quite impressive.  
Me with a crush on James Potter? Nice. Really lovely. There had been a few weeks at the end of first year where I'd had a thing for the one and only Mr Potter. This had passed pretty quickly after a Marauder end of year prank involving an iguana, two watermelons and Sev in a pink tutu. Needless to say, if Sev hadn't been my friend I would most likely have had a crush on Potter for a little longer. Then again, if my crush had vanished so quickly after a prank it obviously hadn't been very big anyway. Perhaps it had been on the way out.

Nevertheless, I was glad that memory had up until now been in the depths of my brain. It was a tad awkward to recollect considering my present view of Potter. Also, the fact I was now in a relationship with Tom and although we'd made up I was extremely cautious in mentioning Potter. The fact that my own brain had just brought up this memory of its own accord was not something to mention to him. Or the memory in the first place.

Finishing my breakfast, I went back up to the dormitory to clean my teeth. The Girls were only just surfacing so I was able to use the bathroom first. As I left the bathroom a few minutes later, Alice sprinted in and locked the door causing me to laugh at the sour expressions of Mary and Marlene.

* * *

An hour later and we were waiting outside the Great Hall for the doors to open. I stared at the double doors so intensely as we waited that I was astonished that there wasn't a hole forming. Sadly, I didn't have the ability to do that.

'Nervous, Evans?' A voice asked softly from next to me. I turned to face Potter with a surprised expression etched on my face.

'Not too bad actually. You?' I responded. Potter ran his hand through his jet-black hair and ruffled it so that it looked more untameable than usual.

'Potters don't get nervous. Or scared for that matter.'

'Nice.' I said nodding. A small grin slid on to my face. 'I'll keep that in mind.'

Potter grinned back at me. I suddenly felt as though the two of us were being watched. Turning subtly to see if we had spectators I saw four culprits. Remus, Sirius and Peter were observing Potter and I's conversation with slightly smug expressions. Sirius indicated towards us he said something and Remus nodded slowly whilst Peter muttered something to the other two. Whatever Peter had said made all three of them snigger.

The fourth person watching our interaction was Tom. My small smile vanished and I promptly tried to engage Potter in a serious conversation rather than an enjoyable one.

'So, what d'you think's your worst subject's going to be?' I asked. Potter glanced over my head before looking back down at me. Curse being short! I guessed he'd spotted Tom or maybe the other Marauders watching.

'Divination.' He said confidently.

'Me too.' I agreed. 'Guess there's no careers as Seers fo-'

'AAAAAARGH!' Yelled a voice across the whole Entrance Hall. Amazingly, most people didn't react but continued their last-minute revision with extreme haste. Potter and I however spun around and saw an extremely red-faced Marlene and a slightly shocked Kieran facing one another. 'Kieran, you're one of my best mates but oh my fucking God! Can you shut up about your ruddy girlfriend for ten seconds?' Marlene practically bellowed. 'I'm happy that you're happy but there's only so much of "Harriet did this and Harriet did that" I can take.' She pointed at the double doors. 'Behind there is one of the most important fucking exams we'll take and you want to have a girly chat about Harriet. What the fuck, mate? I'm not your friend just so you can giggle about her. I'm still human and I don't want to hear about her every bloody second of the sodding day!'

Marlene stormed across the Hall and towards Potter and I. Both Potter and Kieran looked baffled but I looked at my friend and saw how broken she was on the inside. Marlene had such a tough exterior that only very few people had ever seen through. I knew her feelings for Kieran were even deeper than she realised or let on and I understood how shitty her situation was. But that reaction was not what I'd been expecting. The stress of exams was reaching us all.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Not as much about friendship as I'd anticipated but I kind of got caught up in the whole exams thing. I hope you liked the chapter.**

 **Please Review :)**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

 **A/N: The exams are still here at the moment in Jily land but I'm lucky as most of mine are over for the time being. The Incident isn't happening just yet so don't worry but it's close so be prepared.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The weekend offered a temporary break from our exam Hell-hole. Marlene had been ignoring Kieran since the Transfiguration exam and had returned to hiding behind me except this time from Kieran rather than Patrick. Most of the 5th and 7th year students had taken residence in the Library and originally, I had been among them but after reading through my notes twice my brain began reciting them loudly and I knew I needed to stop. To get away from it all I had situated myself in the Room of Requirement and continued my work on the Wolfsbane potion. I was so close to completing it the it motivated me and gave me a weird kind of energy that spurred me on. Even stranger then the source of energy was my companion in the room. Potter had joined me when leaving the Library and seeing as he was in on the Potion, I could hardly deny him. As I poured over my potion, Potter looked over his potions notes with a frown and did some revision often asking me questions on different concoctions.

The Wolfsbane potion smoked a little which was exactly what I wanted. By my calculations (which littered the floor) the smoke would be a slight bluey grey when the potion was complete but at present it was a murky grey which was not what I wanted. I picked up my sheets of drawings, plant properties and calculations. Pouring over them I searched and searched for the key piece of information that would trigger the correct colour smoke. My expression became a frown as my eyes scanned the parchment.

'You want to be careful.' Potter said seriously from behind his revision. 'If you're unlucky, your face will stick like that.'

'Is that what happed to yours then?' I quipped with a small smile as I looked up. Potter chuckled.

'Nope. My good looks are all natural. I was born this way.' He mimed flicking invisible hair off his shoulders.

'Yeah, yeah. Just because you could be a model doesn't mean you have to show off about it.' I said shaking my head a little. My grin remained on my face.

'Aww, Evans. Are you saying I look like a model?' he asked grinning.

'Whatever lets you sleep at night.' I answered. 'But I reckon you could do the pout to perfection.'

Potter obliged and pouted. His face made my smile increase in size. There was something about his expression that just cheered me up. I wasn't even sad before but I couldn't help be happy which Potter pouting in front of me.

'Beautiful. Witch Weekly's already on their way.'

'Stop it. You're making me blush.' He said and looked away. Even though he was no longer facing me I could feel him smiling. The two of us returned to our work but both of had us had smiles replacing our frowns from earlier. My eyes roved over the ingredient list and it dawned on me that none of the said ingredients would induce any element of blue in a potion.

I thought for a moment about what I might add that was blue and my brain scanned through all the plants I had ever read about. Images of various pages in books flicked across my mind but were quickly dismissed. Picture after picture, text after text my brain searched its memory. The Room of Requirement became unfocused as the whir of information thrashed through my mind. Then, all my thoughts condensed onto a single labelled diagram of an indigo-producing plant.

'YES!' I burst out before quickly covering my mouth. 'Sorry.' I muttered sheepishly.

'You don't have to apologise Evans. You're not in the Library.'

'I suppose…but I disturbed your revision.' I said guiltily.

'Not really. I know it all already.'

'Bit cocky Potter?' I asked an eyebrow raised.

'I don't think so. I'm going to ace this test.'

'I'm sure you will.' I said honestly. Potter did well in everything with hardly any revision. Sirius was just the same.

'What about you Evans? You're not doing any revision.' He pointed out. 'That screams "I know everything" to me.'

'I needed a break.' I mumbled. 'You wait till our next exams. I'll be the most panicked person in the room.'

Potter shook his head and muttered something under his breath that I couldn't make out. Probably something about how calm and collected he would be. Turning back to the potion, I thought about needing some Japanese indigo leaves and immediately the Room of Requirement made some bundles of them appear. Alongside the indigo leaves, I wished for a large tub of warm water which appeared before and I placed the bundles in the water. Then I pointed my wand at the tub and non-verbally cast a charm which sped up fermentation. The water changed quickly from its clear state to a yellowish colour and then to a bright blue/green which showed the fermentation to be completed. I removed the charm and set about removing the soaked plants. Then I conjured up some industrial lime and added it to the liquid. I stirred it until it became a redish brown. Then I cast another charm which would cause the liquid to become the state it would be two days later. The indigo pigment settled itself at the bottom of the tub and I vanished the liquid above it leaving me with just the pigment.

I then decantered some of the Wolfsbane potion into a small cauldron I had next to my main one and added a teaspoon of the indigo pigment to it. I waited with baited breath to see if the smoke changed colour. It did.

A squeal of delight erupted out of my mouth and I skipped around the room in delight. Potter watched with amusement. His expression turned to shock as I hugged him in my excitement. As I let go I began dancing in triumph.

'I did it! I did it! Oh my gosh, I actually did it!' I cried happily. 'Potter, it's complete. I beat Belby! Remus is going to be so happy. It's going to help him so much.'

Potter just watched me with a lopsided smile on his face.

'Don't just sit there!' I said. 'Join me in my celebratory dance!' I beckoned him over and he stood up. Potter didn't start dancing but he did grin even more than before. Eventually I stopped dancing and turned to face Potter positively beaming. 'You are officially the worst dance partner ever.'

'I apologise.' He bowed. When he'd risen again he looked at me with a curious expression. 'Where did you learn to do that?' Potter asked.

'Do what?'

'That thing with the plants.'

'Oh. I read some books on the history of the textile industry and one of them mentioned a way of getting blue dye from indigo plants. I knew the properties of indigo before but in all honesty, it was a lucky guess.'

'Why would you read a book on the history of the textile industry?' he asked in exasperation.

'I like to understand the potions ingredients we work with fully and some of them were mentioned in those books. It helps when altering a potion or creating an antidote to a poison.'

'You are so sad.' Potter said shaking his head despairingly. 'I think I need a word with that boyfriend of yours. He needs to take you out more.'

'Why don't you tell him that? And anyway, what's summer for, eh?' I said nudging him. 'By the way, I heard from Mary you're invited to Andrew's Stag Do.' Potter laughed.

'Oh that. Yeah, me, Pads, Mooney and Wormtail are all going to get hammered with him and the rest of his mates.' He said grinning. His eyes seemed to shine with anticipation as I raised an eyebrow. 'What about you? On the Hen Do?'

'Yeah that's me. Pissed by midnight.' I chuckled.

'Not a lightweight then, Evans?'

'Nah, not me.' I answered. I mimed looking him up and down. 'You on the other hand Mr Potter are-'

'I'm not a lightweight!' he cried indignantly.

'My memories of Gryffindor parties beg to differ.' I replied folding my arms. Potter raised his arms in surrender and I smiled smugly.

'Fine.'

'Weren't you the person who conjured all those flamingos?'

'Hey! We've already established I get drunk easily; you don't need to rub it in.' he huffed. 'Come on let's go find Pads and Wormy. We can surprise Mooney together.'

We gathered up our things and began heading to the Library together as they would most likely be there. We walked in a companionable silence. As we rounded a corner we came face to face with a gang of Slytherins. Nott, Rowle, Black, Lestrange, Bulstrode, Avery and Sev stood before us. Wow, that was a lot of names.

The Slytherins blocked our way and I shifted uncomfortably. My hand found its way to my plait and tugged it. Potter and I stood facing them. One of us looked all Gryffindorish and brave whilst the other one of us watched our blockade warily. The companionable silence had become eerie.

'Move.' Potter said steadily. His expression was hard and his eyes glared at those opposite him. My gaze flicked momentarily towards Sev before looking at the floor. Sev seemed to echo Potter's face.

'What if we don't want to.' Rowle said smoothly.

'Then I'll make you.' Potter snarled in response.

'Tut, tut. Unnecessary violence and that in front of a Prefect.' Rowle smirked and gestured to himself. 'Looks to me as though you need to be taught a lesson in manners. Perhaps a few curses on the mudblood will teach you better etiquette.'

Potter moved in front of me like a shield. His hands held me back in a protective way. In all honesty, I felt slightly pathetic and useless. Rowle laughed coldly.

'Look at him protecting the mudblood.' He jeered. 'She is weak isn't she. Nothing but a pathetic piece of scum.'

'You take that back!' Potter shouted as he pulled out his wand. My innards groaned in unison; it was almost synchronised.

'Maybe a demonstration is in order. Look Potter. Look at your weak little mudblood.' Rowle flicked his own wand lazily. 'Imperio.'

I didn't move quickly enough and the curse hit me. Instantly, I was overcome by a white haze. My discomfort vanished and I felt slightly giddy. All my problems were soaked up by the white haze and I felt a small smile shift onto my face. Then a voice spoke in my brain.

'Crucio Potter.' It hissed. I found myself turning to face Potter.

'I can think of many better things to do.' My own voice replied shyly. The other voice commanded again but my own voice denied its command with a much stronger voice.

'Crucio Potter.' Another voice growled. The first voice joined this new one and the two voices began chanting the same words again and again. 'Crucio Potter!' Voice after voice joined in until there were six voices in my brain telling me to torture Potter. My own voice was barely audible over the chants of 'Crucio Potter.' The noise was deafening and I found myself wanting to cower on the floor. My mind seemed to scream in protest at the volume.

'ENOUGH!' I bellowed and at once the haze left me. My awareness came flooding back and I saw that I was facing Potter with my hand grasping to pull my wand out from behind my ear. I felt drained of energy and exhausted. There was a loud thud as all the Slytherins, except Sev, fell back with the force of my rejection of the curse. Evidently, they had all placed the imperious curse on me.

'Come on Evans.' Potter said softly and pulled me passed them. As we turned the corner I heard Rowle shout after us.

'Sent my love to your mother mudblood!' It was lucky that generally I was a non-violent person or I would have turned around and beaten him to pulp. By the sounds of it he then turned to Sev. 'Why the fuck didn't you join in? We would've had it if you had!'

Once Potter and I were a few corridors away I stopped walking and leaned against the stone wall. Closing my eyes momentarily I attempted to regain some strength. Then I looked at Potter guiltily and found he was mirroring my expression. He looked slightly shaken as he watched me take deep breaths.

'I am so so sorry.' I said ruefully. 'I almost crucioed you. I am so sorry!'

'Its fine. I'm sorry. I should have pushed you out of the way. I was too scared of being hit. Sorry, I was a coward.' He bowed his head.

'Bullshit.' I said and Potter looked up in surprise. Admittedly, I didn't swear very often around people. 'You're not a coward. You've just got a brain. Of course, you didn't want to risk being hit.'

'But-'

'The first rule of first aid is that you access the situation. If reaching the injured person endangers you then you shouldn't go and help them because if you're injured also it's not going to be much use to anyone. I reckon you could relate that to now as well.'

'First what?'

'First aid.'

'Oh right.' There was silence between us for a moment. 'Wait. They wanted you to crucio me?'

'Yes. Didn't I just say that?' I asked confused.

'Fuck! That's an unforgivable.'

'And the Imperious curse isn't?' I paused. 'Come one. Let's go find Sirius and Peter.' The two of us headed to the Library and reached it in no time at all. As we arrived at the entrance Potter held me back.

'You're alright, aren't you?'

'Of course. I'm tough.' I said grinning. 'Look.' I pointed at Sirius who was trying to balance a quill on his nose at the far end of the Library. Peter then nicked the quill from him and demonstrated how to do it properly. At that Sirius huffed and took the quill back and began writing on a particularly old looking piece of parchment. Potter and I walked over to them and I cleared my throat causing the two of them to jump and hastily cover the parchment.

'Hey you two!' Peter said extremely brightly. Sirius flashed a smile at me and Potter rolled his eyes. I guessed he knew exactly what they were doing.

'Um…Hi.' Potter said. 'Evans has finished the potion.' Sirius and Peter both looked at me with their eyes wide like goldfish.

'Wicked! And full moon's a week and a bit away.' Sirius grinned. 'We can show it to Remus now.' Sirius and Peter packed up their stuff and we headed for the Gryffindor Boy's Dormitory which was apparently where Remus was.

When we reached the 5th year boy's room I knocked and the door opened immediately. Remus let us in and shut the door behind the four of us.

'Hi.' Then he spotted me. His face only showed a trace of surprise but I visited this dormitory too often for him to be full on shocked. 'Oh, hey Lily.'

'We've got a surprise for you Mooney.' Potter said beaming.

'It's going to change your life.' Sirius claimed dramatically. Remus raised an eyebrow.

'Honest.' Peter added. I handed Remus a small file of the potion I had made. There was no need to whip out the entire cauldron. He stared at the little bottle labelled 'Wolfsbane Potion' in his hand.

'Y-y-you made this?' he choked at me. I felt small tears of happiness form in my eyes which I blinked back furiously.

'For you, yes.' I answered trying not to get to emotional.

'But it's not finished yet. Belby said he hadn't finished it yet.'

'I finished it.' I said. Remus hugged me. 'Those three helped.' I indicated the boys behind me. Sirius snorted.

'Hardly.' He chortled as Potter and Peter murmured in assent. Remus simply hugged me tighter.

* * *

That night I stood on the Astronomy Tower and looked across the dark grounds. The scene before me was extremely comforting and I felt warm inside. The Scottish summer breeze passed me and lazily moved the baby hairs in my braid. The trees of the Forbidden Forest stood stubbornly still at the draft reached them but the shrubbery beneath them rustled irritably.

Next to the forest was the dark silhouette of the gamekeeper Hagrid's hut. The windows of the hut caused golden light to flood onto the grass below. The door of his hut opened and the light from inside illuminated his massive figure. Hagrid appeared to be carrying something over his arm as he closed his front door behind him. He moved past the light from the windows and into the darkness of the forest. I watched the forest for a while and a few minutes later I saw Hagrid emerge at the moonlit side of the lake. Behind him came a herd of what looked like horses. Except they couldn't be horses as they reflected the moonlight too well. I guessed that they were thestrals. Hagrid placed the thing he'd been carrying on the ground. The thestrals crowded around the object and began eating it. Obviously, the object was some kind of food.

I moved my gaze to the lake and saw the lights of the castle reflecting on the water. The sight was weirdly homely and I smiled contentedly. Up here on the Astronomy Tower the exams were forgotten and the world seemed much friendlier. What I couldn't get out of my mind was the events of today. The words 'Crucio Potter' sat very firmly in my head. I couldn't shake off the feeling that I had almost performed an unforgivable curse on someone albeit not on purpose but it still made my stomach flip. I paced the floor as I tried to settle my insides. There was a part of me that wondered if I would have actually tortured Potter. What if my imperioused self would have hurt him?

Wait. Why did I care if Potter got hurt?  
'Because you're not an emotionless human being' a tiny voice in my head reasoned.

I sighed and cast a disillusionment charm over myself so that I wouldn't be caught in the corridors after curfew and headed to Gryffindor Tower. I crept into the dormitory so as not to wake the Girls and slipped into my pyjamas. I washed my face and cleaned my teeth in the bathroom before sliding into bed. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

 _Potter and I were skipping down a corridor in Hogwarts hand in hand with one another. Our faces were filled with jubilation. Our skipping stopped just as 5 hooded figures appeared before us. The hoods helped to hide their faces from view but you could still see beneath them. They wore silver masks to completely the disguise. The masks were completely blank except for a pattern of a snake protruding from the mouth of the mask. It then became clear the masks were in the shape of a skull._

 _The hooded figures began to speak to me in cold, cruel voices._

' _So we start after Christmas?'_

' _Yes. If nothing happens before then it would be best.'_

' _Why?'_

' _You serious? You sure you've go' a brain Bulstrode.' At the mention of the name Bulstrode one of the figures removed their hood and mask to reveal Bulstrode._

' _To lull them into a false sense of security, that's why.'_

 _Yeah, listen to Snape.' Again, one of the figures removed their hood to reveal Sev standing there will an expression of utmost hatred as he looked upon me and Potter._

' _We'd better get out of here before someone finds us. We all remember the mission and plan?'_

 _As soon as the voices stopped they all began advancing towards Potter and I. Instead they all began shouting the same words again and again as they pointed their wands at me._

' _Crucio Potter!' And I obeyed. It was there that I split in two. One version of me continued to perform the unforgivable curse while the other version knelt on the floor and began begging for crucioing-me to stop. Potter was curled up on the ground writhing in agony. Begging-me got off the floor and attempted to block the curse by standing in front of Potter. Crucioing-me stopped the curse and looked at its other version shielding Potter. There was nothing but loathing in their face._

' _Not Potter, not Potter, please not Potter!' The Slytherins moved behind the crucioing-me and together they spoke._

' _Move! We want the boy not the filthy mudblood!' They all pointed their wands towards begging-me._

' _Not Potter, please no, hurt me, curse me instead.' But all the others would do was laugh shrilly and evilly. Sev wrenched me aside and the screams of Potter being tortured filled my head._

I awoke scared and shaking. My pyjamas were drenched in sweat despite my shivering. Trembling, I got out of bed and fumbled in my wardrobe for a clean pair of pyjamas. I changed into this fresh pair and grabbed my duvet. I headed downstairs and into the common room. Seating myself cross-legged on the large red sofa opposite the fire, I looked into the dying embers. My shaking had subsided a little and I wrapped my duvet around myself. The embers glowed a brilliant gold and I watched them until every last cinder had faded and turned black.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Did you like this chapter? I'm hoping to reach the end of 5** **th** **year pretty soon and embark on the summer holidays. There's two weddings still to take place and a Hen Party (you might call it a bachelorette party).**

 **Please Review :)**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

 **A/N: The end of 5** **th year** **is almost upon us. I bet the members of Jily land are looking forward to a nice 6-week holiday. I really want to post these more often but I'm too slow at writing these to do that. Sorry.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The day of my Defence Against the Dark Arts exam had arrived. I had spent the evening before with Tom doing revision and um… other things. Despite the amount of revision we had done and the fact that my mind was reciting the facts and key dates at me I felt unprepared and extremely apprehensive. There was something about today that made me incredibly nervous. My appetite potion was the only thing making me eat breakfast and I was extremely grateful because otherwise my body would have been rejecting my cereal.

Mary and Marlene were chatting about the Quidditch league and about which team was the best. Mary was campaigning for the Tutshill Tornadoes and Marlene for the Bellycastle Bats. Alice was watching Frank eating his breakfast a little way down the table with a dreamy expression. I rolled my eyes at my bowl of cereal. Next to my bowl of cereal was my copy of 'A Guide to Being Frugal: Refilling supplies and much more...'. I'd bought this book in my first trip to Diagon Alley with Professor McGonagall. It looked slightly worn and had definitely seen better days but it was one of my most essential books. I was currently searching for a material repair spell because I couldn't remember any – the hole in my robes was now unacceptably big. Upon finding what I was looking for, I pulled my wand out from behind my ear and cast the spell on the hole. Instantly, the material sealed itself. I looked glumly at my robes. The material was now faded and in places wearing thin. There was only so much magic could do so I definitely needed a new set of black robes.

I sighed. Perhaps I could get a summer job at the Railview Hotel in Cokesworth and earn some extra money next to my cleaning job. Maybe then I would be able to afford some brand-new robes rather than some second-hand ones. Those would hopefully last longer.

Tom sat down next to me. He looked a little tired but overall cheerful.

'All right?' I said smiling at him.

'Hi.' He replied. 'Don't mind if I sit here do you?'

'Yes I mind. How dare you? It's completely illegal.' I answered without missing a beat. Tom laughed which automatically caused me to join in because his laughter was so infectious. I clutched his arm as I gasped for air between laughs. 'We s-s-shouldn't be laughing this m-much!' I chortled. 'We've got e-e-e-exams.' The two of us continued to chuckle despite what I had said not being very funny. Maybe we were just desperate for a reason to smile.

'All the more reason!' Tom declared as we finally calmed down. 'Only two subjects left which means today and tomorrow are exam days and then no more!'

'I suppose that's a positive.' I said. Tom put his arm around me.

'And there's plenty more. Just think, with these exams you get lifelong skills.'

'Why are you such an optimist?' I wailed jokingly. 'We won't need life-long skill…the exams will kill us.'

'Why are you such a pessimist?' Tom asked in response. I could sense him smiling.

'I'm not a pessimist. I'm a cynical realist.' I quipped. He snorted.

'Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.'

* * *

I sat in my seat in the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam rereading my answers. We had a few minutes left judging by the amount of sand left in the top half of the hourglass at the front of the Great Hall. Sure enough:

'Five more minutes!' cried Professor Flitwick from the front. I glanced up to see him moving between desks quite a big distance away from me (I was almost at the back of the Hall). He passed a mass of very untidy black hair which I immediately knew belonged to Potter. I returned to checking my answers. All questions had my small and neat handwriting underneath and when reading what I'd written I couldn't think of anything to add. After reading through my answers twice I looked cautiously at my surroundings not wanting to be told off for cheating or something.

Mary sat directly in front of me and was examining her hair. Every so often she would ruffle it in a dissatisfied sort of way. Marlene sat a few seats away from me and was looking at the head of the person sitting in front of her (Harriet Ross) whilst absentmindedly destroying her quill. Alice sat right at the side of the Hall and was determinately forcing her gaze out of the window. I smirked as exactly next to her was the one and only Frank Longbottom. I could tell it was all she could do to stop herself staring at Frank while he wrote. Not only would she have looked creepy if he looked up but the teachers would have thought her to be cheating.

'Quills down, please!' squeaked Professor Flitwick. 'That means you too Stebbins!' Oh, Stebbins, what a little rebel. I shook my head with an expression of mock disgust and heard Marlene cough extremely loudly as she glanced in my direction. 'Please remain seated while I collect your parchment. Accio!' He summoned the exam papers and over a hundred rolls of parchment zoomed towards the Professor. Poor Professor Flitwick was knocked backwards off his feet as the force of the pieces of parchment reached him. Quite a few people, including the Marauders, laughed but luckily some of the students in the front row got up and helped him onto his feet again. 'Thank you…thank you,' he said a little breathlessly. 'Very well, everybody, you're free to go!'

There was a great scraping of chairs as everyone scrambled to leave the Great Hall and go outside for some fresh air. I waited for the Girls and then the four of us headed to the edge of the Lake. Once we were there we all sat down (Mary took a few moments) and then removed our shoes and socks so we could cool our feet in the water. The Lake's water was refreshing and just what we needed after sitting an exam.

'Did you get a new razor head, Lily? Your legs look really smooth.' Alice asked.

'I found a permanent hair removal charm.' I said and immediately one of my legs was lifted out of the water by Marlene so she could examine it. The other two also leaned in to look.

'Not bad.' Marlene said approvingly.

'You could say…it works like a charm.' I said grinning and nudging them. Alice, Mary and Marlene all fought to contain small smiles. 'Oh, come on. That was a great pun!'

'It was a shit pun!' Mary said.

'Then how come you're all smiling.'

'We are not!' Alice cried indignantly.

'Fine! Then I won't tell you the charm.' I said folding my arms and looking away with an over exaggerated huff. My leg was promptly dropped.

'What!' Marlene exclaimed. All three of them clasped their hands as though in prayer.

'Oh great and powerful Lily!' They said in unison. 'Barer of the knowledge to bestow permanent hair removal. Please grace us with the power and knowledge you hold.'

'Well, I-' I broke off as my gaze fixed on a scene behind where we were sitting. Potter and Sirius with their wands pointing at Sev, who was choking and gaging on a frothy substance streaming from his mouth. 'Oh no you don't.' I said quietly. I surprised myself at how dangerous my voice sounded. I grabbed my shoes and socks before getting up and striding over to the scene I spotted. The Girls didn't try and hold me back but rather called encouragement after me.

'You tell them Lily!'

'Give them that sas we love!'

'Don't be scared to punch them!' I had a feeling Marlene said that one.

A small crowd had formed by the time I reached the boys and to my disgust Remus was reading his book and Peter was watching with extreme excitement. Sev was struggling to get up from the floor as he choked on the bubbles in his mouth and I had the feeling he might also have had an impediment jinx cast on him.

'Leave him ALONE!' I hissed waspishly. Sirius and Potter looked around at me. Guilt flashed across Sirius' face. Potter immediately ran his hand through his messy hair. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to pull out each and every one of his hairs one by one. I mentally shook myself after think of something like that.

'All right, Evans?' said Potter in a tone that suggested he was doing something menial like reading a book. Like he could read! His tone seemed pleasant and calm but it only made my insides roar with indignation.

'Leave him alone.' I said again, my gaze cold and filled with dislike. 'What's he done to you?'

'Well,' Potter began. He paused as though considering his point. Wanker. 'it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean…'

Those surrounding the scene laughed. Remus didn't as he was apparently too interested in his bloody book to be aware of what was going on and do his Prefect duties but Sirius and Peter did. Oh, how I wanted to rip Potter's smarmy little head off. Wow, I needed to calm down with the psychotic thoughts.

'You think you're funny,' I said emotionlessly. 'But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him _alone_.'

'I will if you go out with me, Evans.' Potter said quickly. How dumb was this dickhead? I already had a boyfriend and seriously when would he realise that his stupid joke was old? 'Go on…go out with me and I'll never lay a finger on old Snivelly again.'

In the corner of my eye I could see the impediment jinx wearing off Sev and that he was inching towards his wand which was on the ground. Perhaps if I argued with Potter long enough I would distract everyone long enough for Sev to grab his wand and get away. It was worth a shot.

'I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid.' I stated. Hopefully that would rile Potter up enough to start a full-on argument.

'Bad luck, Prongs.' Sirius said briskly. Unfortunately, Sirius had ended any chance of a distraction and sure enough, he noticed Sev. 'OI!' Shit.

Sev directed his wand towards Potter and there was a sudden flash of light before a slash appeared on the side of Potter's face. The blood from the gash splattered his robes and I was tempted to heal it but I ridded my mind of that thought. This is why I couldn't always trust boys. I gave Sev the chance to run but _no_ he had to try and attack Potter instead. Potter whirled about to face Sev again and flicked his wand furiously. A flash of light later and Sev was hanging upside-down with his robes falling to reveal his skinny, pallid legs and his greyish pants. Relief flooded me as I had been worried he would have really embarrassing pants with hearts on or something that people would have laughed at even more. A smile threatened to form with my relief but I caught myself before anyone thought I was smiling because I found the scene funny. I turned on Potter with a thunderous expression.

'Let him down!'

'Certainly.' Potter said with his stupid voice that sounded like he thought himself better than everyone else. He moved his wand upwards and Sev fell onto the ground as a crumpled heap. He struggled in his robes as he disentangled himself and swiftly stood up, holding his wand ready. Sirius, however, said 'Petrificus Totalus!' and Sev fell flat on his stomach. He was completely still. Images of Sev on the days his dad had too much to drink flooded into my mind. I saw the small, skinny, starving boy I had first met that day in our local playground.

Sev was my friend. My first true friend. The one who had introduced me to the magical world. The one who understood my troubles at home.  
My friend.  
And he was currently lying defenceless and helpless on the ground.  
My friend.

'LEAVE HIM ALONE!' I shouted and pulled my wand out from behind my ear. Sirius and Potter looked at it anxiously. I would enjoy this. I would hex every inch of their stupid smirking, arrogant faces. Sirius, one of my own surrogate brothers, had betrayed me. Potter I had expected this of but I had, mistakenly, thought Sirius had matured.

'Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you.' Potter said earnestly. Oh, he'd hex me, would he? I wouldn't give the little shit the chance.

'Take the curse off him, then!' I snarled.

Potter sighed dramatically for the entertainment of the crowd and then muttered the counter-curse.

'There you go.' He said as poor Sev struggled to his feet. 'You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus – '

'I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!'

I blinked. That was the last thing I had wanted or expected to hear.

'Fine.' I said with a voice like ice. 'I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus.' The name felt horrible on my tongue and I shuddered internally as I said it.

'Apologise to Evans!' Potter bellowed at Severus with his wand pointing menacingly at him.

'I don't want _you_ to make him apologise.' I shouted as I rounded on stupid Saint Potter. 'You're just as bad as he is.'

'What?' Potter yelped. 'I'd NEVER call you a – you-know-what!'

'Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can – I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK.'

I turned on my heel and hurried away as fast as my legs could carry me. Potter called after me but I ignored him. I moved through the castle swiftly and found the back entrance to the grounds. My bare feet found comfort in the barely disturbed grass as I walked far far away. Upon finding a towering oak tree I sank down onto the ground and leaned against the gnarled trunk as I began to sob. The tears fell thick and fast but I made no effort to wipe them away. My shoulders shook as I buried my head in my knees.

Sirius had backed Potter. Severus had called me a Mudblood. Remus had done nothing to stop Sirius and Potter nor to help me. And I had said some things to Potter which I couldn't take back. Those insults were much nastier than I had expected but I didn't know if I regretted them or not.

I continued to cry into my knees. The fat droplets of water didn't cease but seemed to worsen as time went by. I pulled my hair out of its braid and ran my fingers through it in agitation. My sobbing remained uncontrollable and when I tried to get up my legs trembled and I collapsed back down onto the ground. In an attempt to gain control of my emotions, I thought of my happiest memory and conjured Arnold. Arnold appeared and snuggled up against me with his little trunk entwining its way around my arm. Although I couldn't feel my patronus it was a huge comfort just to know he was there. But the tears didn't stop. They fell less but still trickled down my face in a constant stream.

It was beginning to grow dark when I finally found the strength to stand. Arnold vanished as I gathered up my shoes and socks. I checked my hairband for my braid was around my wrist and headed back towards the fully lit castle. I didn't remember my way up to Gryffindor Tower and only came to my senses when the Fat Lady asked for the password. I gave it to her and she swung open. I entered the common room. Upon seeing the people in it, it took all of my strength to not turn around and leave the common room again.

The Marauders were arguing with Mary, Marlene and Alice. The Girls looked extremely close to hexing the boys and Marlene was only half-heartedly being held back by a livid looking heavily pregnant Mary and Alice who bore an expression that could be interpreted as that of a murderer. I wasn't really sure I wanted to be noticed by anyone but the argument was happening right in front of the staircase to the girl's dormitory which was my destination.

'Oh, fuck off, will you?' snapped Marlene. The sound of the portrait hole closing behind me alerted them to my presence.

 **James' POV:**

Evans stood in the entrance of the common room. Her dark red hair was no longer in its usual plait but hung loosely over her shoulders making her beauty more spectacular than usual. She looked ghostly pale and seemed as though she might crumble at any moment. We all moved slightly towards her but McDonald crossed the room and reached her first. She put a protective arm around Evans and glowered at me and the rest of the Marauders.

 **Back to Lily's POV:**

Mary put her arm around me whilst glaring daggers at the boys.

'It's okay. We'll get them to leave you alone. Do you want me to get Tom? Will that help?' she asked softly.

'I want to go to bed.' I whispered pathetically. I didn't have the energy to deal with any more arguments.

'Of course.' Mary nodded and the two of us moved towards the girl's staircase. We reached the safety of the stairs and Marlene and Alice followed us like body guards. As soon as we were in the dormitory I went over to my bed and curled up under the sheets.

'We're sorry we didn't help you Lily.' Marlene said quietly.

'It doesn't matter.' I reassured her.

'We were too busy trying to restrain an angry pregnant lady.' Alice said and a tiny smile appeared momentarily on my lips.

'I was not angry!' Mary cried indignantly.

'My arms beg to differ.' Marlene countered. My hand reached out for my dreamless sleep potion and after taking a dose I drifted off to the sound of my girlfriends' affectionate bickering.

* * *

The next morning was also the morning marking the last exams of our O. W. Ls. I woke at 6.00 am as usual and took my appetite potion before heading into the bathroom. I washed my face and changed into my school uniform. Then I put on my makeup and grabbed my school bag once back in the dormitory. I headed down to the Great Hall for my breakfast and whilst eating my cereal I read through my Transfiguration notes. Despite feeling like shit I acted as though it was just any other morning.

Once I'd finished eating I went back upstairs to clean my teeth and then to the Library for somewhere peaceful to revise. The Library only had a few people asides from Madame Pince in it. I settled myself at a table near the back and braided my hair before returning to my Transfiguration revision. I revised peacefully for a good half an hour but as the clock behind Madame Pince's desk reached 7.10 am shadows fell across my notes. I looked up to see Remus and Sirius standing in front of me.

'Lily?' Remus said tentatively. 'Can we talk?' I looked at the two boys.

'We'd better go outside.' I said expressionlessly. Slowly, I gathered together my things and the three of us headed into the corridor. Once in the corridor we stopped and I turned to face them. Neither of them spoke so I folded my arms and tapped my foot impatiently. 'Well?'

'Lily, we are so sorry.' The two of them said quietly but there was desperation in their voices.

'Is that so?' I asked. My voice was toneless and the gaze I fixed them with betrayed no emotion. 'Sirius, are you sorry for what you did or are you sorry I saw you do it?'

'Both I suppose. I wouldn't feel that bad if you hadn't seen it.' Sirius admitted and looked at the floor. I appreciated his honesty.

'And what about you Remus? Are you sorry you didn't try stop it or are you sorry I saw you do nothing?'

'Sorry I did nothing.' Remus said. I was silent for a moment.

'I…um…Sirius I thought you'd grown up but I was wrong and Remus I thought being a prefect meant more than that to you. I know you weren't reading that book because it was upside-down and you can't read upside-down.'

'Lily, we're sorry and that's all we can say.' Sirius said.

'Well, you should really be apologising to Severus but that isn't really an option. He'd probably try hex you.' I said sadly.

There was silence between the three of us for a long time. My mind whizzed as it decided whether or not to accept their apologies. I looked out of the window that was next to us in the corridor.

'Sirius, I said to you that I would always forgive you when I was braiding your hair just before Halloween and I…I still stand by that. Remus you're just the same and that's the thing about you two, you're my brothers and part of my family.' I wasn't sure if I should have forgiven them so quickly but that was the issue with me I was always too willing to forgive.

'Y-you mean it?' Sirius asked incredulously. 'You'll forgive us just like that?' I looked away from the window and back at the two of them.

'Yes. The same goes for Peter if you see him before I do.' I whispered. The two boys pounced on me and enveloped me in an extremely tight hug. I didn't mind however. Once we let go I smiled slightly at the two of them. 'D-d-d-o…Is Potter alright?'

'Oh, he's fine.' Sirius said breezily. Remus checked his watch.

'We'd better head to the Great Hall. Our exam starts in 15 minutes.'

* * *

The rest of the week before our return home passed swiftly and in no time at all we were boarding the Hogwarts Express for the journey to Kings Cross Station. I had successfully avoided Potter for the entirety of that week and overall kept an extremely low profile. When the Girls had found out I'd forgiven Sirius, Remus and Peter they shook their heads a little but agreed it had helped me not to be as melancholy as I would have been.

The Girls and I sat in a compartment on the train and chatted about nothing in particular. I was grateful this conversation didn't require my input so I watched them gossip rather than comment on anything.

'Yeah, that's right.' Mary was saying. 'Andrew's invited my brother on the Stag Do.' She chuckled. 'Imagine that. A drunk Matthew surrounded by people who can do magic. He is definitely going to do some brilliant stuff. Shame we can't watch it.'

'Maybe that's best.' Marlene said. 'We've heard stories of him when he's pissed. Didn't he think he was part of those muggle secret service people and started singing the James Band? theme tune whilst pretending to sneak around?'

Alice snorted.

'That's my big bro.' Mary said fondly. 'Just you wait till the wedding. We are going to see stuff you'll never forget.'

'That sounds slightly ominous.' Alice said suspiciously.

'I don't think I'll witness it. I bet I'll be hammered by then.' Marlene stated.

'You're underage. It's not like school. You won't be able to get any alcohol.' Mary laughed shaking her head.

'I'll bring my own.' Marlene said stubbornly. 'Just you wait an-'

The compartment door slid open. Four female heads turned to see who had disturbed the conversation. It was Potter. A whimper escaped my mouth but it was covered by Alice who coughed loudly at almost exactly the same time.

'I want to speak with Evans.' He declared into the compartment.

'Well she doesn't want to talk to you.' Alice snapped.

'I'd prefer an answer from Evans herself, Prewitt.' Potter said coldly. He looked at me and waited expectantly for an answer.

The answer was no. Most definitely no. And yet just as my mind came to this conclusion the 'Let's All Ruin Lily's Life' club arrived after a long absence.

'Sure.' Came my voice. Everyone looked at me in surprise, including Potter. 'In the corridor, I presume.' Potter nodded and I walked determinately out into the corridor. As the door slid shut behind me my heart rate increased as nerves at the LARLL club's decision kicked in.

Potter opened his mouth to speak but I cut across him.

'I'm sorry for the stuff I said.' The words spilled out of my mouth before I'd even thought about it. 'I mean,' I coughed awkwardly. 'some of the stuff I said was kind of true but I...I didn't have to say it the way I did…' I trailed off and tugged at my plait.

'Why are you apologising?' Potter asked confused. 'You did nothing wrong. It's my fault so don't apologise for it. I'm sorry for what I did.'

'Really?'

'Really.' I observed him shrewdly and then held out my hand. Potter shook it tentatively. My face split into a small smile which was my first true smile in days.

'You know Potter, I've always wondered if we could be friends. We have those conversations that make me think we would be great friends but then we always have an argument or something a day later. During the exams, we didn't have a single argument and I thought everything was going well but then the incident happened. But I suppose we just never purposely tried to get along.'

'Are you saying you want to be friends, Evans?' Potter asked quietly. My gaze did not leave Potter's face once when I next spoke. I looked directly into his hazel eyes.

'Yes, I think so. So, James, d'you want to be friends?' The name James felt strange on my tongue. Well, not weird just new.

'That sounds like a wicked idea, _Lily_.' He answered beaming.

When I left Kings Cross Station in my dad's car an hour later I was in a much better mood than I had been that morning. Severus' betrayal hurt and it hurt badly but I had friends that would help me through it. I wasn't alone.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **We've reached the end of 5** **th** **year. Wow, who thought we'd get there? Next up is the summer holidays and eventually 6** **th** **year. Hehe.**

 **I'm not sure how I feel about Lily forgiving people so quickly but at the same time I didn't want those problems to drag into the holidays.**

 **Please Review :)**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

 **A/N: It's summer in Jily land! Yay, wedding time! I hope you liked the last chapter and I hope you like this chapter as well.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The result of Mary's Hen Do had been interesting. By midnight the only two sober people in the room had been Mary and I as neither of us had touched so much as a drop of alcohol. In the morning, we'd had facials and got our nails done and then gone to Mary's house for the celebrations. As presents Mary had received lots of scandalous lingerie and after the present opening the pizza eating and alcohol consuming had begun.

It was now 3 am and I was the only one awake. Everyone else had been coaxed under their respective covers by Mary and I and were now sleeping soundly. Mary too had fallen asleep not long after Marlene, the drunkest out of everyone, had drifted off singing an extremely tuneless version of 'Don't go breaking my heart'. I sat on my mattress staring out of Mary's French double doors. The moon shone brightly and I found myself not being remotely tired. I sighed and grabbed some parchment, a quill and an ink pot from my bag before creeping out onto Mary's balcony. Once on her balcony I settled myself on one of the white deckchairs and contemplated who I would write to at this hour.

 **A Letter From Lily Evans To James Potter:**

Dear James,

Hi. I'm not really sure what to write but I'm here at three in the morning with parchment and quill in hand so I may as well write something. I suppose I should ask how you are. That's what people say in letters isn't it? Well, here goes. How are you? You don't actually have to reply to this letter by the way.

So…What am I doing right now? Asides from writing this embarrassing letter I'm not doing much. I don't count staring at the moon as an activity but maybe you do so I'll mention it. My location is at present Mary's balcony because I needed to escape the snores of intoxicated people. Mind you, Mary's just as bad in her sober state but I guess I'm used to it after sharing a dormitory with her. Do people snore a lot in your dormitory? My guess is that Peter snores a lot despite his size, Sirius not so much, Remus a little, Frank and Kieran around average with you topping everyone by the volume of your own snoring and snorting. Of course, I have no idea but I imagine I'm quite accurate.

I assume my next question should be what are you doing at this moment in time? Alas, I know the answer already but it can't hurt to ask. As I write this I would say you've already exceeded your drinking limit and are singing old wizarding songs. If you're not doing that then you're probably asleep. Hehe. When the owl delivers this, you'll wake with a hangover due to the tapping. I'm borrowing Mary's owl and he is an evil little bugger. He purposefully tries to annoy the recipient of the letter with his insistent tapping. Actually, come to think of it, my guess at what you're doing is wrong. By the time you read this you'll probably have had a hangover potion. Wait. I know exactly what you'll be doing. You'll be reading this abomination of a letter! Aren't I the cleverest? It took me a while to get there but I'm there now. Sirius often takes the piss of me for being slow in the head when it comes to guessing but I'm not that bad. Honest.

The sun's starting to rise so I'd better stop writing. Mary will kill me if I look tired at her wedding. See you there I guess… Save me a dance!

Lily

After signing off I reluctantly headed in and found Mary's owl. I attached the letter to its leg as well as a hangover potion and brought it to a window. The owl flew away at once and I watched it disappear into the distance before going to lie down on my mattress. I pulled my cover over me and slowly fell asleep.

When I awoke a few hours later there was already bustling movement in the room. Mary's mother had come in to wake us and I smiled at her as I got up. She returned the gesture.

'Morning.' I greeted her cheerfully.

'How's your head?' she asked straight away. I laughed quietly so as not to wake anyone.

'Oh, it's fine. I didn't have any alcohol. Mary and I stayed sober.'

'Sensible girls. Of course, Mary's condition means she can't have any alcohol but it was good of you to keep her company.' I grinned but saw no reason to point out I didn't drink alcohol.

Slowly but surely everyone else stirred and soon after the last person had visited the bathroom the makeup and hair stylist arrived. The squeal that echoed through all the female in the room, minus Marlene and I, was slightly deafening. I pulled my bridesmaid dress on and once my hair and makeup was done I was met by gasps of approval from all my fellow females. Joining Marlene, Alice and I as bridesmaids were Andrew's older sister; Karen, Andrew's cousins; Laura and Grace and Mary's 12-year-old sister; Abigail. Mary had taken them for their fittings the day after she'd gone with Alice, Marlene and I. Abigail had not been present for the drinking but had been at the Hen Do up until the pizza was completely eaten. She had then retired to her room at the insistence of her mother and older sister.

* * *

We arrived outside the old barn house in which the wedding was being held completely on schedule. Mary got out of the wedding limousine we had travelled in and was promptly followed by her entourage of bridesmaids. She smiled at all of us as she headed over to the entrance where her father stood with an expression that plainly said he was trying not to get emotional. It was a metre from her father where Mary stopped causing me to almost crash into her as I walked behind her.

'Mary?' I asked softly. 'What is it?' Mary took a few moments to turn around. Her face was petrified when she faced me. I knew that look. 'Abigail, can you go and tell your parents we need a few minutes?' I asked Mary's sister who as standing next to me. She nodded and hurried to tell them. I led Mary a little away from the rest of the bridesmaids. 'What's wrong?'

'I-I-I can't do this!' she squeaked. I put my hands on her shoulders.

'Yes, you can.' I answered smiling. 'Mary, you can do anything.' I pointed behind her. 'Inside that barn is a young man who loves you more than anything. And I know you love that young man just as much. I also know you would never have said yes to him if you didn't mean it.'

'Do you mean it?' Mary asked. She sounded like a small child and I smiled encouragingly.

'You're one of my best friends, one of my surrogate sisters even and I would _never_ let you do something that would be the wrong thing if I could stop you. If I didn't think this was the right decision, if anyone didn't think this was the right decision they would have said something. We all love you Mary and we'll be there with you no matter what. We'll be there every step of the way.'

Mary hugged me and a few seconds later I heard her crying over my shoulder. Not tears of sadness but tears of joy.

'Save the tears for once you're married, eh?' I said chuckling. I let go of her and pulled some tissues of my specially made in-seam pocket to fix her makeup. It took another few minutes to reorganise before we were ready to enter the barn. Mary's took her father's arm and I offered mine to Abigail who giggled shyly. Two by two we entered the barn and walked down the aisle.

The barn had been refurbished and had rose gold fairy lights hanging across the ceiling. The arch was white and entwined with peachy pink roses and next to was the groom in black dress robes with a single rose pinned to them in the same colour. Andrew's groomsmen also wore matching robes and roses to the groom. Mary's brother, Matthew, winked at Abigail who rolled her eyes at her older brother. I supressed a laugh and looked at the rest of groomsmen. James stood alongside Matthew and Andrew's two best mates (I thought they might be called Charlie and Nathan). I threw James a questioning look and he smirked in response. I knew he'd been invited to the Stag Do as he was mates with Andrew as well as a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team but I wasn't sure why he was also one of the groomsmen. We arrived at the front and stepped into our places. I scanned the rest of the guests and my eyes fell on the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team plus Remus, Peter, Frank and Ben sitting together. I returned my attention to the Bride and took her bouquet of peachy pink roses as the ceremony began.

When the last 'I do' had been said everyone trooped out of the back entrance of the barn into a large tent where there was seating. With the seating arrangements, I found myself sitting in between James and Matthew. Next to Matthew was Abigail and the rest of the people on my table were Marlene, Alice, Frank and Kieran. I wondered if Mary had purposefully sat Marlene next to Kieran and Alice next to Frank. Needless to say, Marlene looked slightly disgruntled at the fact that she had to sit next to Kieran. Luckily, she didn't ignore him which was an improvement.

The speeches took a while and consisted a lot of embarrassing memories of the newly-weds. I listened to these quite enjoyable speeches but was extremely grateful when the food arrived. The guests tucked into their food and began to chat amongst themselves.

'Not every day that two people get married, is it?' James said after swallowing a rather large piece of steak.

'I suppose but there's probably a statistic that'll prove you wrong.' I chuckled as James shook his head exasperatedly.

'You're threatening to bring facts into this now?' He asked in disbelief.

'What's wrong with facts?' I asked with a fake frown while James groaned into his drink.

'Thanks for that hangover potion you sent. Andrew was one short.' James said smiling at me.

'Oh…you're welcome. Sorry about that letter by the way. I bet you didn't appreciate that at 3 am.' I apologised sheepishly.

'Well, I didn't see it until 10 am so its fine. I appreciated it. It made me laugh.'

'It was pretty weird, wasn't it?' I grumbled going slightly pink.

'Nah, it was from the heart.' He reassured me nudging my arm playfully. His trademark smirk appeared on his face and I rolled my eyes.

'From the heart my arse.' I said and then clapped a hand to my mouth as I glanced at Abigail. The 12-year-old was however too busy scolding her older brother for how much he drank the night before to notice my language.

'Isn't innocence a virtue?' James said and shut his eyes as though reminiscing his innocent days. I snorted. I doubted James had ever been anything near innocent.

'She's got the right idea though. You're lucky I've been around too many drunk people to nag someone about drinking.' I folded my arms as I looked at James.

'Shame. Word on the street is you've got some excellent nagging skills.'

'Word on the street.' I muttered shaking my head. 'I've nagged you before more like.'

It was then that it was announced that the cake would be cut and then the dance floor would be ready. Everyone got up from their seats to see Mary and Andrew cut their wedding cake. As they cut the cake the two model phoenixes atop the cake took flights before bursting into a shower of rose-golden sparkles over the Bride and Groom. Everyone clapped and then most of their guests made their way to the newly formed rose-gold dance floor to watch the first dance by the newly-wed couple.

Mary and Andrew looked wonderful together as they danced to the song 'When I See You' by the Golden Snidgets. They revolved around the dance floor gazing deeply into each other's eyes. If anyone at the wedding had doubted whether the two were in love had just been proved wrong. The happy couple where eventually joined on the dance floor by other guests. Mary's parents and Andrew's parents led the way for the guests on to the dance floor. Abigail danced with Matthew, Alice and Frank danced with one another and Marlene danced with Kieran. She looked slightly cross and I bit back a laugh as her eyes glanced in my direction.

I watched the couples on the dance floor with a slight smile before turning to find the Marauders. Upon finding them, I dragged Remus on to the floor and the two of us began revolving on the spot.

'So how was the Stag Do?' I asked.

'Good. We all had way too much to drink but it was fun.'

'Remus!' I gasped in mock horror. 'You consumed alcohol!'

'I know. I'm such a rebel.' We both laughed.

'The hangover wasn't too bad, was it?'

'It could have been better. If we'd woken up later it wouldn't have been so bad but an owl turned up at 10 am and wouldn't stop tapping at the window.'

I laughed so hard at that we had to stop dancing as I doubled over with my howls of mirth. I clutched Remus to steady myself as I snorted with laughter.

'You wouldn't happen to know who this owl was from, Lily? I know the letter was for Prongs but he didn't show it to anyone.' I choked with hilarity as Remus eyed me suspiciously.

'Oh, she knows exactly who it's from.' James said popping up next to us as the song ended. Sirius was next to him and winked at me. 'I believe, Lily, this dance is mine.' James led me away from the other two and we started to slow dance. In the corner of my eye, I saw Sirius start to drag an extremely reluctant Remus towards the bar.

'Where's Peter?' I asked looking up at James as we swayed on the spot.

'Oh, one of Andrew's second cousins or something asked him to dance.' He answered. There was a hint of pride in his voice.

'Ah.' I said nodding. 'Why are you so bloody tall?' I complained. 'I'm killing my feet with heels and everything but you're still a giant.'

'Once a titch always a titch.' He responded smirking.

'Watch it you!' I said glowering playfully. 'I'm wearing stilettos remember.'

'Forgive me, Miss Evans.' We were silent for a moment.

'I'm curious as to why you were one of the groomsmen. I know you're mates with Andrew but…'

'My parents and his are family friends. We basically grew up together.'

'Right. Are your parents here then?'

'Oh yeah. I'll introduce you to them properly later if you want.' I smiled up at him.

'I met them once last summer.' I reminded him.

'That's why I said properly.' We danced for another two songs before James led me over to his parents who had been sitting at their table chatting whilst watching those on the dance floor. As we neared them they smiled at us.

'Miss Evans!' Mrs Potter greeted me beaming. 'How nice to see you again.'

'Please, call me Lily.'

'Of, course.' Mr Potter said grinning. 'James, you easily found the best dancer in the room.' He ruffled his son's untidy hair affectionately as we sat down. 'You two looked quite good together.'

Evidently, this had some hidden meaning aside from a compliment about our dancing as Mr Potter smirked at his son whilst Mrs Potter's eyes twinkled with amusement. James promptly started to turn scarlet and muttered 'Dad!' extremely indignantly. I smiled politely but had no idea what was so funny. To add to my confusion, I could see Sirius and Remus laughing at James a table away.

* * *

A few weeks after Mary's wedding arrived Tuney and Vernon's big day. I was not invited to the Hen Do the night before but I didn't really mind. The Bride and the Bridesmaids were to get ready at the Maid of Honour's (Claire) house so I waved goodbye to my dad, who would be meeting Tuney at the church, and cycled to Claire's house with my Bridesmaid things on the back of the bike. I arrived and put my bike at the side of the house where I always did when doing the housekeeping job. I walked round to the front door and rang the doorbell. The door opened after a few seconds and I was ushered upstairs to have my hair and makeup done. Once that was done I changed into my dress and shoes before heading into the room with all the other Bridesmaids in. My fellow Bridesmaids were Claire, Vernon's sister Marge, Petunia's friend Yvonne and that was it. All three of them looked at me with distaste so I moved to the side of the room and stared at the floor as Tuney got ready in the next room. Eventually my sister appeared in her dress.

She looked so radiant standing there all in white and when she saw me for once she didn't glare.

'You look beautiful, Tuney.' I said quietly.

'Thank you.' She answered and the moment ended as the other Bridesmaids started speaking.

A few minutes later and it was time to leave. The others filed out.

'Tuney, wait!' I said and my sister turned to me questioningly. 'I have something for you…It's from mum.' I held out the velvet box mum had asked me to give Tuney. She took it from me and opened her mouth as though to say something but closed it again and hurried from the room. I followed at a slower pace and was therefore the last person in the wedding car.

* * *

The ceremony passed in a blur of white and lilac and before I knew it we had eaten, cut the cake and the dancing had commenced. I watched Tuney dance with Vernon, then with dad and then with Vernon again.

Dad and I danced together.

'We are the only normal people here; can you believe it Lils?' Dad said to me as we danced. 'Everyone else here is scarily posh.'

'Lucky, you got me then.' I answered grinning at him. 'I'm quite impressed that they had 200 people to invite. I would only have about 80 max.'

'That comes with time. The older you get, the more people you know.' Dad said wisely as I snorted. 'So, that's the wedding between you and that Tom I presume.'

'Dad!'

'I'm just asking!' He said grinning evilly. The prospect of marrying Tom didn't quite evoke the emotions it should have but I smiled at my dad.

'Marriage for me is still a while away.' I said firmly.

'If you say so…Pet's 19 and that's only 3 years away for you.' I groaned and dad smirked at me.

'How d'you know it's going to be Tom though…You've never met him. Maybe you won't like him.'

'That sounds ominous. Is he a troll or something?' Dad frowned at me for a moment as though considering something but then seemed to shake off whatever he'd just thought of. 'Now this is a decent song.' He said grinning as the song changed.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter! That was two weddings in one chapter. I think I'm slightly wedding'd out. Next chapter is back to school! I know that was kind of a short break for the holidays but I want to keep the story moving.**

 **I have a question. Do you guys like Tom? This is something I want to know for future chapters.**

 **Please Review :)**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

 **A/N: Our Marauder era are now NEWT students. They've grown up so fast! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The journey to Hogwarts had been anything but comfortable. I had spent the whole of it with Tom and the whole of it worrying about my conversation with my dad. I pretended everything was fine but every time we had kissed, cuddled or even held hands my mind replayed myself saying 'How d'you know it's going to be Tom though…You've never met him. Maybe you won't like him.' Each time I heard that I heard myself say that I would hear it in an increasingly panicked voice. It was stupid to think of stuff like marriage at the age of 16 if you were someone like me but now my mind wondered if I wanted to marry Tom.

And the answer to that question didn't seem to be yes.

Of course, I had no idea who I wanted to marry instead but it made my brain question if I still liked Tom. At the start of our relationship I had definitely had a crush on him and been delighted when he'd asked me out. Did I still feel like that now? Did I still lose myself in the moment whenever he kissed me? Such things left relationships after a while, didn't they? But when I thought of my parents I couldn't agree with that. When mum had been alive and well, to be honest even when she was ill, there was a spark between them. Only an idiot would have missed it. I had seen it also with James' parents. When they looked at each other they seemed to block out the rest of the world if only for a second when it was just a glance.

But I was only 16. Thinking of stuff like that in a relationship was pointless. I was currently sitting at the Gryffindor Table avoiding making eye contact with anyone and in particular Tom as we waited for the Sorting Ceremony to start. My gaze shifted from my empty plate to looking at my friends. I saw Mary sitting with Andrew her head resting on his shoulder as he had an arm around her. Every time the two of them looked at each other I saw there was a spark there. I saw Alice and Frank chatting together. They weren't dating yet but their connection was undeniable as they laughed at something. I saw Marlene and Kieran messing around. They had reconciled and Harriet Ross had been dumped during the holidays. The two were giggling together as they took it in turns to flick peas into a makeshift goal they had made from a goblet lying on its side. But there was something there with them too.

My eyes flicked towards James for the briefest of moments to find he was staring at something behind me. I turned around to see what he was looking at but saw nothing. I shrugged to myself. Probably watching something weird that only made sense to him.

Maybe I would ask Remus about the whole Tom thing. Remus would most likely know what to do. Maybe Sirius too. I wouldn't ask Peter or James. I wasn't sure Peter would have much of an explanation and I wasn't one hundred percent sure why I didn't want to ask James. I wouldn't ask the Girls either because they all were in or almost in perfect relationships.

Stupid relationships. Why did I care so much? Honestly, I was such a teenage girl…Wait.

* * *

The first full day of school was always quite chaotic and as the Girls and I came down for Second Breakfast we saw Professor McGonagall sorting out the 6th Gryffindor timetables. We sat down at the table and I poured myself some water and began sipping it as we waited for Professor McGonagall to reach us.

'Well, I'm definitely ditching Divination.' Alice said. 'Professor Conan creeps me out.'

'And you got a P in Divination.' Marlene added chuckling.

'You're in a good mood today, I notice.' Mary observed as Alice scowled and muttered about Divination being a waste of time. Marlene shrugged nonchalantly. 'Fine, don't explain yourself.'

Marlene simply smiled up at the enchanted ceiling.

'Don't mind her. She's just channelling her inner Harriet Ross. You know, walking around in a ditzy cloud. Don't worry, she's bitchy underneath.' I said casually taking another sip of water before ducking to avoid Marlene's arm as it tried whack me on the head. Mary and Alice both laughed.

'Ladies, we must arrange your timetables.' Professor McGonagall had reached us. Marlene promptly stopped trying to harass my head. The other three sorted out their timetables and then headed to their allocated lessons. 'And now you, Miss Evans. I was quite pleased with your Transfiguration mark when I saw your results.'

'Thank you, Professor.'

'You have achieved Outstandings in all of your subjects but I would suggest you discontinue two of your previous subjects in order to give yourself enough free time.'

'Yes, Professor. Could I discontinue Divination and History of Magic?' I asked cautiously. 'If that's not too much trouble.' I added hastily not wanting to seem like I was demanding something.

'Of course, Miss Evans.' She tapped the timetable once with her wand and handed it to me. I thanked her and hurried off to Care of Magical Creatures which was my first lesson.

'Oi! Lils! Wait up!' A voice called after me as I left the Great Hall. I turned around and to my great relief it wasn't Tom but James. He hurried up to me.

'What've you got first?' I asked as he fell into step beside me.

'Care of Magical Creatures.' James answered and looked easily over my shoulder to see what I had. 'Snap!' I grinned up at him. 'We can walk together.'

'What makes you think I want to?' I asked with a playful smile.

'Well, who would pass up the opportunity to hang out with me?'

'Aren't we Mr Cocky today?'

'You love me really.' He insisted with a smirk. I raised an eyebrow at him.

'You sure about that, Potter?'

'We're back to surnames, are we?' James asked nudging me as we made our way across the grounds.

'Well, it adds variation don't you think?' I replied. 'Besides, I reckon I'll call you that when I'm cross with you.'

'You're cross with me?' He asked cautiously.

'Yes, I've got a bone to pick with you. When exactly were you planning on telling me you're Gryffindor Quidditch Captain?' The two of us stopped and I folded my arms as I fixed him with a sour look.

'I…'

'How exactly am I supposed to congratulate you if I don't know?'

'Sorry. I just didn't want to boast about it to you.'

'A modest James Potter? I don't think I've seen that before.' I grinned at him and thumped him on the back. 'Well, congrats on making Captain!'

'Andrew gave up his badge. Said he wanted to focus on his NEWTs. I mean, he's still trying out for the team but he doesn't want to be Captain this year. And McGonagall gave the badge to me.' I could tell James was extremely proud.

'I reckon you'll be amazing.' I told him honestly. 'You've got this in the bag.' I squeezed his shoulder encouragingly but with some difficulty due to how tall he was and how short I was. Then I walked over to where Alice stood talking to Professor Kettleburn as Ben came up to us to talk to James.

'Hey Lily.' Alice greeted as Professor Kettleburn left to get his register.

'Hi.'

'It was nice of you to finally join me. I know it must have been heart-breaking to tear yourself away from Potter.' She said smirking.

'Sure, sure.'

'You know I had to start talking to old Kettleburn so I wouldn't look like a loner just because you took forever with your new buddy.' Alice grumbled.

'I'm so sorry. I know how hard it must have been for you to talk to a Professor.'

'He started talking to me about nifler breeding. _Breeding_ Lily! D'you know how traumatic that is?'

'Well, now when the nifler breeding season arises you'll know exactly what to do.' I replied with a smirk and had to dodge Alice as she tried to hit me with her school bag. Alice began to chase me and I was forced to run in order to avoid her. 'James, help me!' I squeaked as Alice pelted after me. I ducked behind James who laughed and moved to the side so that Alice could easily drop her bag on top of me. 'Ow!' I groaned as the weight of her school bag hit me. Gingerly, I pulled myself up and stretched my back. 'Some shield you are.' I grumbled as Alice began cackling evilly.

'Well, Lily my dear, I fully trusted Miss Prewitt had good reason to chase you and felt it was only fair for her to catch you.' James replied. I was about to respond when Professor Kettleburn began speaking.

'Welcome to your first NEWT Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Today we will begin the topic of "Raising Magical Creatures: From Foetus to Fully Grown",'

'Well, Al, looks like your new-found knowledge will be some use after all…' I whispered smirking so that only Alice could hear and ducked to avoid the tirade of quills being thrown at me.

* * *

When dinner finally arrived, I felt slightly sluggish from the first day back and was extremely grateful lessons were over. The Girls and I had had Transfiguration last so all four of us trouped to the dormitory to drop off our bags before dinner. That way we could also avoid the throng of eager first years pelting into the Great Hall. We walked in silence but it was a comfortable one. Once we were on our way back towards the Great Hall was when we started talking.

'Does it hurt?' Alice said completely out of the blue. She directed this question mainly at me but I had no idea what she was going on about. I said as much.

'You're going to have to elaborate a bit if you want an answer.' I said in response.

'Losing your virginity, I mean.' Alice expanded. Again, she looked at me.

'How should I know?' I asked bewildered. 'Ask those two.' I pointed at Marlene and Mary who were also watching me.

'What d'you mean "How should I know"?' Marlene asked.

'What it means is that I am a virgin which incidentally is a fact you lot should know.'

'So, you haven't had sex with Tom yet?' Mary asked surprised. 'We were sure you had but kept it secret.'

'No…'

'Bullshit!' Marlene said loudly causing a portrait to start reprimanding her for her language. 'Oh, shut the fuck up you piece of paint!' She snapped at it before turning back to me. 'We all saw you with Tom on the train. You looked awkward around him which is a tell-tale sign.' Marlene wagged her finger at me with a knowing look.

'A tell-tale sign of what?' I asked grumpily.

'That you've had sex with him for the first time,' Mary said. 'And are scared he thought you were bad.' I stared at my girlfriends.

'I have not had sex with Tom. When exactly woul-'

'Then you've cheated on him!' Alice squealed with delight at the prospect of so much drama.

'What is this? Make shit conspiracies about Lily day?' I asked exasperatedly.

'With Potter!' Mary added as though my comment hadn't been said. 'I mean their _friends_ now and everything.'

'I have NOT cheated on Tom with James or anyone else for that matter!' I cried in desperation.

'Fine, don't admit to it.' Marlene said an evil grin forming. 'We'll ask Potter ourselves.' I groaned in despair and didn't utter a word throughout the entirety of dinner.

* * *

Later that night, I sat in the common room in one of the good armchairs by the fire reading. I was engrossed in my book and the Girls had taken it as a sign that I was not to be disturbed. They had been pestering me ever since we'd eaten dinner about my 'awkwardness' around Tom so I had taken refuge behind my book.

I became aware that someone had begun to poke incessantly at my arm. I shifted slightly and tried to ignore it but after two minutes of being prodded I lost it.

'What!?' I snapped turning to face the offending poker. I found myself face to face with an extremely smug looking Sirius. 'I will hex you into oblivion if you don't piss off in the next 10 seconds and leave me to read my book!'

'Calm down!' Sirius said with the same smug expression. Sirius had been kicked out of his home during the holidays and moved in with James and ever since had been so cheerful it was slightly scary. I knew he was happy to have finally left his parent house but I hadn't expected him to be quite so smiley. 'I just wanted to talk to you about something.'

'Make it quick then.' I answered glowering. 'Poirot's just reaching the Who Done It.'

'Who?'

'Poirot.'

'Oh, right.' Sirius nodded although I knew he still had no idea who I was going on about. 'Can we go in private somewhere?'

'Fine.' Sirius did a tiny victory dance but quickly stopped when I glared at him. I followed him out of the common room and into a disused classroom. Sirius shut the door and cast a silencing charm on it.

'I've got two things.' He began.

'Two?' I groaned. 'I thought it would be quick.'

'I never said that. You just assumed it would be because you told me to make it quick.' He smirked at me.

'Congratulations! You outwitted me!' I said in mock delight. 'Now hurry up.'

'Okay…Number one – is it true that you cheated on Tom with old Prongsie?'

'No, I actually had an affair with the giant squid. Where did you hear that? Did the Girls tell you?'

'Nah, they asked Prongs in front of me. He said no but that's not a guaranteed truth. He's a good liar when he wants to be.'

'Oh my gosh! I haven't cheated on anyone. Happy?' I sighed in frustration and Sirius smirked.

'Almost. Number two – what's up with you and Tom?'

'Nothing…we-'

'Don't lie to me Lily Evans!' Sirius said sharply. 'He may be fine but you looked so awkward and uncomfortable with him on the train. Did he do something to you? Did he hurt you because if he did Mooney and I'll go beat him up. On second thoughts, Prongs'll help too I'm sure and Wormy'll cheer us on.'

'Sirius, he's done nothing wrong and I ju- don't you dare beat him up!' Sirius looked slightly put out. 'I've just been thinking about our relationship that's all.'

'And by that you mean…' Sirius questioned. I was silent and stared at my feet for a long time mulling over my answer.

'I'm not sure I like him anymore…Please don't hate me!' For a moment, I thought I saw a look of triumph on his face but it was replaced by a look of concern too quickly for me to be sure I had really seen it.

'Hate you? Why would I hate you? Lily, there's nothing wrong with being unsure. You can't exactly control how you feel so it's not something someone can blame you for.'

'But…he still likes me and I don't know how I feel.' I mumbled guiltily. Sirius did not respond and I found myself raising my head to look at him. He was watching me and his expression plainly said he was thinking about what to say.

'Give it a month.' He said eventually. 'If you're still unsure by then you know at least that you need a break from each other.'

I hugged him gratefully. Wow, I was turning into a soppy teenage girl.

* * *

The next day I felt in a much better mood. I smiled my way through the entirety of my breakfast at 6.30 am and was still smiling during Second Breakfast when an owl dropped a letter in James' lap. He opened the letter casually and began to read it. His usually cheerful expression slid into a blank and emotionless one. Swiftly, James grabbed his things and rushed out of the Great Hall. I stared after him my face etched with concern. Telling myself I would ask him about it at break I turned back to my cereal with a quick shared look between Remus, Sirius and I.

My first lesson of the day was Defence Against the Dark Arts which was a class I had will all my mates. I settled myself between Marlene and Alice with Mary next to Alice as our teacher strutted in. Professor Thornton was the newest addition to the Hogwarts teaching staff and seemed only to be a few year older than us 6th years. He seemed to me like the horror version of 1st – 5th year James and upon telling Sirius that when he was introduced at the start of term feast he had to stuff his hand in his mouth to stop himself laughing. James had looked slightly disgruntled.

Thornton had also made majority of the girls at Hogwarts all dreamy-eyed and giggly for the duration of the feast. He was good looking I supposed but not in a way that I could personally be attracted to him.

'Morning class!' He began brightly and flashed a smile. Almost all the girls in our class gave a collective sigh and began batting their eyelashes. The males in the class looked extremely annoyed and I had to bite back a laugh as I saw Frank and Kieran turn around in their seats to check Alice and Marlene weren't swooning over Thornton. They weren't. Marlene's raised eyebrow and Alice's look of disgust were enough to tell them there was no attraction there. 'I thought I'd introduce myself properly. My name is Professor Thornton and I'm 28 years old.'

'Merlin, I didn't realise this was his fucking job interview.' Marlene muttered irritably.

'I'm also single.' He continued with a wink. That had not been an appropriate comment…The girls who had been batting their eyelashes giggled excitedly.

'Apparently, we've entered a blind date with our teacher.' I commented quietly to Marlene who glared suspiciously at Thornton.

'Before coming to be a teacher here I was an auror, then a healer, then a…'

'Why doesn't he just admit he was a porn star and be done?' I whispered grumpily. Those near me (Marlene, Alice, Mary, Sirius, Remus and Peter) snorted with laughter and then disguised them as coughs. It dawned on me then that James hadn't shown up to class. Worry skipped into my mind.

'Is everything alright over there?' Thornton asked.

'We were merely remarking on what a wide range of careers you've had.' I answered coolly. Thornton's eyes bored into mine but I closed my mind and looked blankly back. What was up with me? I had never spoken to a teacher like that.

'I thought to begin today's lesson we would practice a shield charm. In 6th year we progress to non-verbal spells and I wish to be absolutely certain you can perform defensive spells verbally with extreme ease before we embark on a more difficult branch of magic.' Thornton looked away from me and flashed another smile at the rest of the class. 'You may work in pairs with the person next to you.'

Talk broke out as people turned to the person next to them.

'I don't like him.' Marlene said at once. 'He seems full of shit.'

'Probably is.' I agreed. 'But I'm not going to ask him if that's true.' The two of us smirked darkly and then turned to the task in hand. Marlene and I could both cast powerful shield charms, the only difference being I could already cast them non-verbally as well. For the whole of the lesson I kept a closed mind because I didn't trust Thornton. I was almost certain he had tried to use legilimency on me and I wasn't taking any chances.

As we left the classroom 45 minutes later Thornton called me back.

'Miss with the red hair, a word!' Slowly, I turned to face him and shuffled to the front of the classroom where he stood.

'Yes, sir?'

'I was watching you cast your shield charm today and I noticed you can already do it non-verbally.'

'Yes, sir.'

'Your name is Miss Evans?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Your previous teacher left a report on each of the pupils in their class and said that you were highly skilled. From what I saw today, I'm sure you have great potential. I think you would benefit from some extra tutoring. I can teach you more advanced defensive magic than anything you'll learn in your NEWT years. I think you could manage it quite easily. What do you say Miss Evans?'

I pondered my answer. In all honesty, as much as I wanted to learn really advanced magic I didn't want to spend one to one time with Thornton (he kind of pissed me off). But it would be extremely helpful and I would learn loads…

'If it's not too much bother then I would be happy to.' I answered.

'Excellent. Shall we meet here at let's say…7 pm this evening?'

'Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.' And I left to hurry off to my next lesson.

* * *

James didn't show up all day and my slight worry was expanding into full on panic. At dinner his absence was extremely obvious to me but no one else seemed to notice. What if he'd been attacked or something? An image of James lying on his back with 7 slashes across him flashed across my brain. I ate my food silently and made a vow to myself to try and find him after my tutoring with Thornton. After dinner, I went to the library to do my homework and once I'd finished it I slowly headed for my DADA classroom. Thornton was already there when I arrived. He waved at me from behind a piece of parchment he was reading as I entered. Thornton had cleared a space in the middle of the room for what I guessed would be duelling practice.

'Right on time, Miss Evans.' He put his parchment down on the desk nearest to him and looked at me. 'I thought we'd start with your duelling stance. How you stand in duelling is very important. You have to be poised and ready to take on your opponent. So, Miss Evans, how would _you_ stand in a duel?'

I moved into the cleared space and pulled out my wand from behind my ear. Then I put one leg slightly further forwards than the other and held my wand out in front of me. Thorton walked around me observing my stance.

'Not bad, Miss Evans, but it could use some improvements. You don't mind if I shift you around a little, do you?'

'No, sir.'

He set to work. First, he knelt down and move my leg further forwards before standing up again. He corrected my posture and tilted my elbow.

'This leg,' Thornton pointed at my left leg. 'is the pivot. Your other leg moves forwards and backwards but the pivot remains stationery. Of course, you can move around in a duel but it's important to remember that. The pivot is the leg opposite to your wand arm. Remember that.'

I nodded. Thornton moved behind me and adjusted my wrist.

'You need a firmer grip on your wand. The stronger you hold it the harder it is for the disarming or summoning charm to affect it.'

'Yes, sir.' He was extremely close to me and I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with that but a second later he stepped back which helped considerably. Thornton checked his watch.

'I'm afraid time has run short. Remember to practice this position, Miss Evans, and next time we'll begin with spell casting with the correct stance. I shall see you again next week at the same time.'

'Thank you, sir.' I said and left the classroom. Then I began my search for James. Having no idea where he could possibly be I started by searching the Astronomy Towers, then the owlery and then the dungeons. Nothing. I wondered if he might be on the Quidditch pitch so I headed for the grounds. It had begun to rain heavily by the time I reached the Entrance Hall so I pulled out a miniscule umbrella I kept in my pocket and using my wand enlarged it back to its original size. I transfigured my black school pumps into wellies and trudged outside putting up the umbrella as I went.

I reached the Quidditch pitch in no time and looked around. It was getting dark and the rain made it difficult to see more than a few metres away. After looking in the changing rooms and around the muddy ground of the pitch I ventured into the stands to see if he was there. I climbed the stairs until I reached the top row and looked down it to see if I could see James. Ah ha! I spotted him sitting in the furthest seat in the top row holding a piece of parchment in hand. Slowly and cautiously, I made my way towards him.

'James?' I said softly as I sat down next to him. He turned to look at me. James looked pale and extremely upset.

'Lily?' He croaked. 'What are you doing here?'

'Looking for you.' I answered. 'I've been looking for you everywhere. I was so worried.'

'My father's missing.' He stated as though that was an adequate excuse. I studied him for a few seconds. Then I slapped him.

'What the fuck?' James asked bewildered as he held a hand to his now red cheek.

'And you think that's an excuse to vanish for a day? Have any idea how worried I was? I thought you'd been attacked or worse! I get you wanted to alone but you could at least have told someone where you were.' I scolded.

'Oh, yeah? If I told someone I'd never have got any time alone. You know weirdly enough I didn't want to be surrounded by people just after I found out my father's missing!'

'James-'

'You know what Lily, you just don't get it. My father could be dead for all I know! You don't understand!' I stood up glaring at James.

'At least there's a chance he's alive!' I snapped. 'My mum's 10 feet under and there's no was in Hell she's alive. So, no, I suppose I don't understand!' I turned to leave but James grabbed my hand.

'Lily wait!' Slowly, I moved to face him. 'I'm sorry. I forgot.'

'It's okay.' I sank back down onto the seat next to him. 'So, how'd he go missing?'

'My father's an auror and he led a group of them to stake out a known Death Eater hideout. They were meant to be back a week ago.' James sniffed loudly.

'I'm so sorry James.' I squeezed his hand.

'So, what about your mum? You only ever said she died.'

'You sure you want to hear that? It's not exactly the most cheerful thing.'

'Yes I'm sure.' I sighed but told him despite my reluctance.

'Mum had some kind of illness that meant she was always exhausted. I was 11 when she first collapsed. She'd been telling me off for something and when she sent me to my room I turned away and there was aloud thud. She'd just collapsed. It started to happen more often and eventually there were days when she couldn't get out of bed because she was so fatigued. By the start of fourth year she'd stopped leaving her bed completely. Then, during fifth year, there was a Death Eater attack on my home town. Dad was out but mum was in bed as always. The Death Eaters destroyed the house with her in it. By the time the aurors showed up it was too late. I often wonder if mum hadn't been ill if she'd have survived. She might have been out as well and not been killed. I-I saw her dead body. She looked like she was asleep but of course she wasn't…' I trailed off and looked at the rain falling on the lower rows of seats.

'Oh…So it's just your dad and your sister back in the muggle world?'

'Something like that.' I said smiling sadly at him.

'You need to stop saying that. Tell me about your family – it's a good distraction.' James fixed me with a pleading gaze.

'Fine. What d'you want to know?' To my surprise, James smiled a little. It was a small smile but it reached his eyes as they twinkled with mischief.

'What's your dad like?'

'He's brilliant. He runs our family bakery all by himself most of the time and weekends runs a self-defence class. I'm always jealous of how much energy he seems to have. Dad's also my voice of reason when I complain about school.' I chuckled slightly.

'And what about your sister? I know she doesn't live with you anymore.'

'Are you sure? Everything about her?' I asked nervously.

'Well, not everything. I don't need her address but other stuff would be good. I'm just trying to imagine an older version of you.'

'Okay...She's 19 and married to this bloke Vernon, who is quite um...unpleasant but she likes him so I try my best to hide my dislike. Vernon's got some quite…intense opinions which I don't exactly agree with. He looks a little like a walrus mixed with a pig – actually that's quite mean. He doesn't look that bad…'

'Really? You'll have to introduce me some day and I'll see for myself. Looking like a walrus and a pig is no mean feat.'

'Vernon makes Petunia happy so I can't complain.'

'Your sister's called Petunia?' James looked at me with another small smile. 'And your called Lily. Both flowers…'

'My mum liked flowers. Petunia's called Petunia because my dad's middle name is Peter and I'm called Lily because my mum's middle name was Lillian.'

'Right. So, what about your middle names?' He asked curiously.

'My dad's full name is John Peter Evans so Petunia's full name is Petunia Jane Evans… well, Petunia Jane Dursley now. My mum's full name was Martha Lillian Evans so my full name is Lily Martha Evans. It was much easier for my names because mum was obviously female.'

'Interesting. Well my full name's James Harold Potter. Harold after my…' James trailed off.

'Father.' I finished for him. 'You know what cheers me up when I'm sad, asides red lentil and potato soup? Hot chocolate!'

James rolled his eyes at my obvious excitement. I stood up dragging him up with me.

'Can't we just conjure it?' James grumbled.

'No way! Hogwarts hot chocolate is the best. Besides, I know it's not possible for you but I'm freezing my tits off out here.' He snorted but began to follow me. 'You can hold the umbrella seeing as you're taller.' I said and handed the umbrella to James. The two of us walked back to the castle in silence. We snuck into the Entrance Hall, it now being after curfew, and headed to the kitchens. We asked the House Elves for two hot chocolates and chatted while we waited for them.

'I never knew you were such an accomplished sneaker.' James commented after I had cast a drying spell on the two of us. 'You've never struck me as someone who sneaks around after curfew.'

'You have no idea…' All those late-night trips to the Astronomy Towers and the times I had broken into the Restricted Section of the library had given me a decent set of sneaking skills.

'Lily Evans, Hogwarts' finest curfew breaker.'

'You could learn something from me. I know you been caught quite a few times on your night time escapades.' I wagged an accusing finger at him and James held his hands up in mock surrender.

'That was years ago!' He cried indignantly as the hot chocolate arrived.

'I, on the other hand, have never been caught.' I said smugly but touched one of the wooden tables in the kitchens just in case.

'Where do you even go?' James asked interestedly.

'One of the Astronomy Towers mostly.'

'You do?'

'Yeah, you've even met me there once.' I pointed out.

'Do you have a reason that you go there?'

'Do I need to have a reason?'

'Well, yes. Even if it's just because you feel like it. That counts as a reason.' I studied James deciding whether or not to be truthful.

'I go there to think.' I said. It was a vague answer but completely true. James didn't press the point but downed the rest of his hot chocolate. I followed suit and then the two of us headed to Gryffindor Tower.

'Night, Lily.' James said turning to me as we reached the staircases for our respective dormitories.

'Night, James.' I hugged him. 'I'm sure your father'll turn up.'

'I hope so…' He muttered to the top of my head. I pulled out of the hug and fixed him with a stern look.

'And tell Sirius. He's got a right to know. I know he's like a second son to your parents.'

'I will.' James said nodding and I folded my arms. 'I promise.'

'Make sure you get a goodnights sleep; it'll help.' James rolled his eyes. 'I mean it James. Straight to bed with you. I've got some dreamless sleep potion if you want some.'

'Lily, I'll be alright.'

'If you're sure…' I squeezed his hand and then headed up the girl's staircase.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed that chapter. It was a bit longer than usual but I had a lot to mention. What do you think of Professor Thornton? Are you a fan or not? Are you glad about Lily's feelings for Tom?**

 **Did you enjoy Lily and James' interactions?**

 **Please Review :)**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

 **A/N: I'm not quite sure where this chapter's heading so far so you'll just have to wait and see. I hope you liked the last chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

It was a Monday evening and the Girls and I sat in the common room doing nothing in particular. We'd all finished our homework and were embracing the stress-free time we had. Mary and Alice were playing a game of Wizarding Chess whilst I watched and Marlene read a copy of the Evening Prophet. The game had been quite intense so far with Mary and Alice both having claimed about the same number of pieces from one another. Both of them were also extremely competitive.

'Bea's Bouquets is having a sale.' Marlene announced from behind her newspaper. 'I'll try remember that for when you go into labour.' She nodded at Mary.

'I refuse to have discounted flowers.' Mary responded. 'The pain of childbirth is worth at least a full price bouquet.'

'I'm sure that's exactly what'll be on your mind when you just given birth.' Alice commented. 'Check.'

'Bollocks.' Mary muttered and moved her King.

'I always wonder how that place funds itself.' Marlene said thoughtfully. 'I've never seen anyone in there except the owner.'

'Probably growing weed in the back.' I answered unconcernedly. Mary snorted into the Chess board and started laughing so hard she had to grasp onto the arms of her chair for support.

'Weeds?' Marlene asked confused. 'Why would someone want to grow fucking weeds?'

'Not weeds, _weed_.' I explained. Both Marlene and Alice looked baffled. Mary laughed harder and harder at their confusion.

'I still don't get it.' Alice said.

'You know, pot? Grass? Skunk? Dope? Cannabis? Marijuana?' I asked exasperatedly. They continued to look stumped as Mary's laughed progressed to full-on cackling. 'Oh for Merlin's sake! It's a drug!'

'A what?'

'A drug! You get high on it. Stoned. Baked. Ringing any bells?' Nothing. 'I give up.' Apparently, drugs were not a thing in the Wizarding world or if they were they must have been different to muggle ones. Or Marlene and Alice were just extremely innocent. I highly doubted that.

Mary calmed down a little from her laughter.

'Lily, Lily!' She clutched my arm as she tried to control her cackles. 'Let's hope they don't get _grassed_ on!'

I stared at Mary and tried to keep a straight face at her awful pun. I failed miserably and fell onto the floor howling with laughter. The two of us laughed so loud that I barely heard Marlene, a few minutes later, say it was 10 to 7 and I needed to go off to tutoring.

Reluctantly, I pulled myself off the floor and grabbed my school bag. I waved goodbye to the Girls and headed for my DADA classroom. The past few tutoring sessions had been quite useful and Thornton had started to teach me some complex defensive magic. When I arrived, he already stood in the centre of the room.

'Ah, Miss Evans.' He said looking at me as I slid my bag off my shoulder and put it on one of the desks. 'I thought today we would do some duelling practice.'

The two of us bowed to one another and then moved into a duelling stance.

'Ladies first.' He said indicating at me. I nodded, paused and flicked my wand in direction of his feet. A strong jet of water pelted out. Thornton, having assumed I would do some kind of hex, had mutter 'Protego' and cast a shield charm. This charm didn't block the water and it unbalanced him. I winced slightly as he fell back but I held my ground as I remembered that duelling opponents didn't ask one another if they were alright. I took the chance to non-verbally cast my own shield charm. Thornton was back on his feet and cast a spell that, instead of being stopped by my shield, skidded to a halt and then swiftly looped over it. Slightly panicked, I randomly cast a chair in front of me and ducked behind it. The spell hit the chair and exploded into one hundred sparks which with a wave of my wand I transfigured into some twittering birds and sent them towards Thornton who only narrowly dodged them. Now that I had the pace of the duel in my head, my brain swiftly found a song that matched it and began playing 'Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting' by Elton John. Duelling to different pace music was how I had practiced in the Room of Requirement and as soon as my mind began filling with Elton John's voice I felt much more confident. I closed my eyes for a moment focusing on the adrenalin pumping through me.

I turned my focus back to Thornton who had moved confidently out from behind his shield charm. This was my chance and I took it. I speedily cast an Ebublio Jinx on him and Thornton was enclosed in a large bubble. He struggled inside it for a moment and then muttered something and prodded the bubble with his wand. The bubble burst and he sent a stinging hex in my direction I deflected by hitting the jet of light head on with a stunning spell. I directed a tickling hex at Thornton but he cast another shield charm and the hex ricocheted off around the room. Ducking to avoid it I cast a Bat-bogey hex. This, Thornton did not manage to avoid and I had to stop myself from laughing as he attempted to fend off a load of bats that were flying out of his nose.

'I think…' He pushed another large black bat out of his face. 'You win…Miss Evans…' I grinned in triumph. 'We'll…review your technique…next time…'

'Thank you, sir.' I answered and grabbed my stuff. 'Bye, sir.' I hurried off deciding that I wouldn't tell anyone about the duel. It was too funny to forget but I felt slightly guilty. I pondered turning back and performing the counter-hex for Thornton but a small voice in my head said 'Just live a little.' The voice sounded remarkably like James.

* * *

That Saturday I found myself sitting in the Quidditch stands watching the Gryffindor Team try-outs. I was there supporting James, who was the new Captain and apparently required lots of support for finding the new Gryffindor Team; Sirius, who was trying out for beater as always; and Marlene, who was trying out for chaser as usual. Mary, who was just days away from giving birth, had neglected to join me deciding that it was too much effort to remove herself from the armchair nearest the fire in the Gryffindor common room and go and support Marlene and Andrew at the try-outs. Alice had vanished somewhere with Frank. And so, I was alone in watching James sitting on a broomstick yelling at other people sitting on broomsticks.

James began the try-outs with a lap around the pitch which soon eliminated at least half of the hopefuls who fell off their broomsticks quite spectacularly. He then split the remaining people into 7 groups which I assumed were for the 7 different types of Quidditch positions. From there, he looked at each group in turn perform some specific task and chose a player or two from each. After his viewing of the second group, I grew bored and upon spotting a stone lying on the floor of the stands picked it up and transfigured it into a football.

Ever since the summer holidays I had had a strange desire to play football. I guessed this had come about by the fact that whenever I had had a free moment in my holidays I had played football with the kids on my street. It had been a great stress relief and ever since I had had a craving to have a kick about. On some days of the week I even woke up half an hour to an hour earlier just so I could do drills in the early morning fog next to the Lake. As someone who wasn't sporty and usually shuddered at the thought of exercise I had been surprisingly eager to do this level of sport. I had found however that it was helping my appetite to return without the aid of a potion.

I walked onto the Quidditch pitch and found a spot on the side-lines where I could do some drills. I set about practicing my dribbling, then my control of the ball, then my kicking accuracy and then some kick ups.

 **James' POV:**

The chasers were currently up so I flew with two at a time to see how well the three of us worked together. Some of them were alright but when McKinnon and Young were up I knew exactly why the three of us had been chasers together since second year. I glanced at the stands to see if Lily was watching my seamless flying but I couldn't find her. My gaze scanned around as I passed the Quaffle to Young and spotted her on the pitch kicking a black and white ball up continually. I looked at her confused. I had never seen a ball like that or seen anyone do that with a ball. What was she doing?

Whatever she was doing, she looked beautiful with her deep red plait bouncing up and down. Her face looked so relaxed and happy as she kicked the strange ball in the air. Lily was wearing a grey gingham shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of emerald green shorts over some black tights. Her dark green shoes (they looked like some muggle converse high-tops but I knew Lily wore fake versions as she'd told me) didn't quite match the rest of the outfit due to their being a different shade of green but she carried it off. She was Lily after all and looked stunning in everything – not that she realised it. I stared a moment longer.

She really was beautiful…

'Oi Captain!' A voice yelled and I only just caught the Quaffle thrown at me by McKinnon.

'Enjoying the view?' Young asked me smirking. 'Something or should I say _someone_ distracting you?'

'Fuck off.' I groaned as the other two laughed. We came into land and I was met by Sirius who was grinning evilly next to Andrew.

'I saw that Prongsie.' He gloated and I moaned in defeat.

 **Back to Lily's POV:**

Try-outs eventually ended and I headed over to my mates plus Andrew. I smiled at them as I came up holding the football under my arm.

'Good try-outs?' I asked.

'You could say that.' Sirius said smirking along with Marlene, Kieran and Andrew. James looked slightly grumpy. 'Prongs definitely found lots to look at.' James promptly went red as the others sniggered before bursting out in howls of mirth. I frowned.

'I-I'm sure there were lots of decent players to try-out…' I said uncertainly and in an attempt to make James look less uncomfortable. The others didn't stop laughing so I turned to James and pulled him ahead. The two of us walked in silence. I wondered why James was so embarrassed but I knew it wouldn't help to ask. I patted him on the back. 'If it helps…you organised that really well.'

It didn't help.

* * *

My afternoon was spent enjoying the last of the summer sunshine with Tom in the grounds. I had decided to do what Sirius had suggested and see how I felt at the end of the month before making my decision about my relationship with Tom and was trying to embrace the time that was just the two of us. We sat on a rock at the edge of the Lake and looked over the black, seamless water.

'D'you ever wonder what's at the bottom?' I asked Tom. 'I mean, Hogwarts: A History says there's merpeople in the Lake so I guess they live at the bottom. Kappas too probably.'

'Another load of things trying to kill us.' Tom said disgustedly. I looked at him in surprise.

'What happened to the optimistic Tom Clarke?'

'It's true though! The magical world is just one thing after another trying to kill you.' He said indignantly.

'Nice. Really cheerful.'

'You're not disagreeing with me.' Tom pointed out.

'I'm not agreeing either.' I countered. 'Besides, I'm not trying to kill you…I'm part of the magical world.'

'You don't count.' He answered. 'You're not one of the beasts in our textbooks.'

'Oh, we've got a name now?' I said smiling playfully. Tom leaned in with a grin.

'I don't know about beast but you're certainly feisty.' He put his arms around me and I lay back down on the rock as he propped himself further towards me. Then our lips met and we began to kiss enthusiastically. The feeling would return any minute now. This kiss was like those before when I'd lost myself in them. Any minute now. The spark. It would come. 10…9…8…7…It wasn't coming, was it? Nope. Nothing. Tom pushed himself up off me when I stopped returning his kiss. 'What is it?' He asked concernedly.

I tugged my plait and sat up. Avoiding his gaze I considered my next move. It hadn't been a month yet but I knew deep down if I felt nothing now it wouldn't change by the end of the month.

'Lily?'

My eyes saddened as I realised what I had to do. If I didn't it would end with more hurt then being honest now would.

'D-d-d'you feel anything when we kiss?' I asked timidly. Tom looked at me bewildered.

'I don't understand. What-'

'D'you feel like we did at the start of our relationship?' I lifted my knees up and hugged them into my chest.

'Well-I-um…'

'I-I've found that I d-d-don't feel the same anymore.' I whispered. 'Every time we kiss, I feel n-n-n-nothing and I know that if I don't tell you now it's going to get worse and worse.' Tom was silent but I couldn't summon the courage to look at him. 'It was on the train here that I started thinking I might not have feelings for you anymore. I didn't want to believe it and Sirius told me to give it a month and see. But I can't wait a month, there's only a week left till then but I have to tell you know or it's going to be so much worse.'

Slowly, I turned to face him. To my surprise, Tom had been watching me as I spoke.

'So, what are you saying?' He asked slowly.

'I guess what I'm saying is that we s-should break up. I want to change how I feel so bad but I know it's not going to happen. It's not fair on you if we keep this relationship.'

'I agree.'

'I'm so so so sorry, Tom…if I could ch-'

'Lily, it's fine. You can't make yourself like me.' He said quietly.

'You're not angry?' I asked in shock.

'No...'

'D-d'you think we could still be friends?' I asked timidly.

'Not right now. I need a bit of time...but in the end...I'd love that.' Tom smiled sadly at me.

'D'you want me to go?' I asked and he nodded.

I walked away feeling extremely guilty. Tom had looked so pathetic when he'd nodded and thinking about it made my heart bleed. I blinked back tears of guilt and continued to walk with no real idea where I was going. When I eventually became aware of my surroundings I realised I was in one of the many corridors of Hogwarts. At the far end of the corridor I saw someone leaning against the wall breathing heavily. At a second glance I realised it was Mary. I rushed over and saw a puddle of liquid on the floor. She looked in my direction at the sound of my footsteps.

'Lily…my waters have broken!' She squeaked in an extremely panicked voice. I stared at her for a second as I forced all my emotions regarding Tom to the back of my brain.

'Right.' I said calmly. 'To the Hospital Wing!' I helped Mary off the wall and let her lean on me as the two of us hobbled in the direction of the Hospital Wing. It took us about 10 minutes to reach the entrance as we'd had to stop on several occasions for Mary to take some deep breaths. As soon as Madame Pomfrey saw us she screamed at the person she was giving a pepper up potion to to leave and rushed over to Mary.

'Miss McDonald…I mean Mrs Wood we need to get you over to a bed. Miss Evans, can you get her to lean on the bed whilst I get her a nightgown.'

'Yes, of course.' I guided Mary over to a bed and she followed Madame Pomfrey's instructions. She began moaning at a contraction and I squeezed her had in reassurance at the same time as conjuring a stopwatch to measure the time between each of her contractions. 'D'you want me to get Andrew?' I asked her as she groaned.

'Yes! It's his fucking fault I'm like this so he'd better bloody be here to witness it!' She said irritably and I cast Arnold and sent him to tell Andrew Mary was having her first contractions and he needed to come to the Hospital Wing. When Arnold returned a few minutes later followed by an extremely harassed looking Andrew I had to bite back a smile. Mary snapped at Andrew for being 'late' and I had to force myself not to laugh at the sour-looking pregnant person leaning on the Hospital Wing bed. Madame Pomfrey returned with a nightgown and an armful of towels. She barked at Andrew to help sort out the bed with the towels while I helped Mary change into the pale blue nightgown.

12 hours later and Mary was insulting her head off.

'You fucking fuckboy! If you'd kept your dick to yourself I wouldn't be in this mess!' Shouted at Andrew as she pushed on instruction of Madame Pomfrey. It was quite surprising how many different ways Mary could phrase her blame. So far I had counted 20.

'Another push Mary!' I encouraged as Madame Pomfrey nodded.

'Easy for you to say! You don't have to push out a fucking watermelon out of your fanny!' Mary retorted but squeezed tightly on Andrew's hand. 'Why's your hand so sweaty? I don't need to be drowned! I'm having a baby!' She yelled at him as she pushed. At the start of the giving birth process Andrew had looked slightly bewildered or irritable at every insult but he had grown used to them and now didn't even flinch.

'I can see the head, Mrs Wood!' Madame Pomfrey suddenly exclaimed. Mary screwed up her face in effort and groaned as she began pushing with new energy. As she pushed her mouth seemed to contort.

'Mary?' I asked cautiously. Her mouth contorted again before answering.

'Can't…swear…in front…of the…BABY!' She ended her sentence with a shout as she pushed again. I had to turn away so that she wouldn't see me laughing. Another 10 minutes passed and the baby was fully out. Madame Pomfrey cut the ambilical cord and told me to wrap the baby in a towel. I did this and carried the squirming package over to the new parents. Carefully, I laid the baby in Mary's arms. I stepped back and stood smiling as I looked at the happiest little family I'd ever seen.

The Wood family.

'It's a boy.' I whispered not wanting to ruin the moment. The new parents looked from the baby to one another and smiled.

'Oliver.' They said together.

'Oliver Wood.' I murmured to myself and went to talk to Madame Pomfrey so that the three of them would have some time alone. Madame Pomfrey was in her office. She smiled at me from the sink in the corner of her office in which she was washing her hands.

'Miss Evans.' She said. 'Are they alright?'

'Beaming over little Oliver when I left them.' I answered my own face splitting into a grin.

'Oliver?' Madame Pomfrey asked. 'I've always liked that name. My brother was called Oliver.' I noted the word _was_.

'Oh, what was he like?'

'Funny. Cheerful. I don't think I ever saw him not smiling.' Her face saddened. 'Even the last time I saw him he was smiling.'

'What happened?'

'He was an auror. He went with his unit to attack a Death Eater hideout and the whole unit went missing. It's almost been a month since he went missing so there isn't a chance he's alive.' I stared at her for a second.

'Was the leader of his unit Harold Potter?' I asked quietly. She nodded. So, James' dad had gone missing with Madame Pomfrey's brother. After a month with no sign of the unit it was understandable that she thought her brother dead. I knew James had assumed his dad was dead from the start. But there was a chance they were alive. A very small chance but a chance just the same. 'I'm sorry.' I said and she smiled sadly.

'I still hope he's alive but…Never mind that. A baby's just been born. Perhaps you want to go and see how they're doing.' I nodded understanding she wanted to be alone. I understood that she felt she couldn't get teary-eyed in front of a student. That wouldn't be professional after all. I left Madame Pomfrey and went back into the ward. Mary was sat up in her bed smiling. I walked over to her and sat down on the chair next to her bed.

'How you feeling?' I asked her.

'Not bad. You, babes?'

'Me? I'm fine.' I answered. 'You're the one who just gave birth.'

'D'you want to be Godmother?'

'G-godmother for Oliver?'

'Yes!' She said smiling. 'Andrew and I think you'd be perfect.'

'If it's what you two want then I'd love to.' We grinned at each other and looked towards Andrew and Oliver. The two were sitting in a chair snoozing; Oliver snuggled up in his father's arms.

'Men.' Mary said shaking her head and we both laughed.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Whose glad Lily split up with Tom? He's not leaving the story entirely but I promise they won't get back together.**

 **Please Review :)**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

 **A/N: Well, lots happened last chapter. Mary had her baby, Lily and Tom split up and Lily duelled with her teacher. Fun times. This chapter is a little before Halloween and then Halloween.**

 **BTW I gave James' parents different names to their canon names. I'm not the hugest fan of their actual names but it was mainly I didn't want to have to write their long names. I'm so lazy.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise. The storyline is my own – that goes for all my chapters.**

 **Enjoy**

I sat at the Gryffindor table during Second Breakfast in between Sirius and James. Remus sat opposite me absorbed in a conversation about Honeydukes' chocolate. James and Sirius were arguing about who had the best hair. I quietly sipped my water and avoided looking at the Hufflepuff table.

'The chilli-chocolate is the best, Wormtail. You can't deny…'

'But the ladies all swoon at my hair. I don't see them do it much at yours…'

'No way! Mint conquers all. Mooney, no one likes chilli-chocolate…'

'Mine is way better. Lily braids my hair. She wouldn't even think of doing it to your mop...'

'The after taste of chilli is something your mint can't even come close to…'

'I'll have you know my hair is skilfully windswept…'

'But what's one of the most famous chocolate flavours? Mint. You say chilli-chocolate and everyone's like: what?'

'Your hair looks like you fell into a bush backwards and then got up with the bush still in your hair…'

'Everyone loves chilli-chocolate. Lily back me up here!'

'Everyone thinks it looks good. Don't they, Lils?'

'LILY!' All four of them shouted looking at me. I jumped, a little startled, and turned my full attention to what they were saying.

'What?' I asked confused. Immediately, they all began telling me to say something.

'Lily, tell Wormy that chilli-chocolate is better than mint chocolate!' Remus insisted.

'Don't listen to him! Say mint is the best!' Peter begged.

'Lily, tell Prongs his hair is shit!' Sirius whined.

'Don't listen to him! My hair is wicked!' James pleaded. I sighed in exasperation.

'Can't you all be mature for one second?' They all shook their heads and grinned evilly. 'You're all equal and so are your preferences! Just-' I was interrupted by the arrival of the post. Rose, my dad's owl, landed in front of me and proudly held out her leg. There was a letter addressed to me attached to her leg. The writing looked like my dad's so I removed the letter and slipped it into the pocket of my robes to read later. James and Sirius both had a letter from the same owl which I knew to be James'. The two of them removed the letters and handed them to me. 'Um…why are you giving me your letters?'

'Mother hasn't written since…a month ago and we don't want to read them. You can tell us what's in them.' I frowned at the two of them. Both boys fixed me with an earnest gaze so I reluctantly opened the first letter which turned out to be the one for James.

 **A Letter From Ingrid Potter To James Potter:**

Dear James,

Your father's back! He staggered into St Mungos with the rest of his unit at about 3 am and the hospital flooed me. He's bad, really bad but the Healers say he'll be alright. I'm with him right now actually and I'll ask Albus if he'll let you and Sirius come to visit him. You two will make him smile...

The letter continued but I felt I shouldn't read any further. The idea of reading someone else' letters felt a bit like an invasion of privacy. All the time I had been reading I'd done some over exaggerated gasps and a single 'Well I never!' which had gripped Sirius and James attention. James in particular had looked terrified. I could see Remus and Peter laughing heartily at James' expression.

'I don't think you want to read it.' I said shaking my head sombrely. 'It's too terrible.' I clutched the letter tragically to my heart. 'Oh, alack-a-day!' I mimed fainting onto the table.

'Lils! Stop messing around! What does it stay?' James moaned.

'Maybe you should read it yourself. It won't bite.' I held out the two letters and James and Sirius took them slowly. When Sirius read his he gave a loud whoop and laughed at something further down his letter. James read his and relief flooded into his face before it turned bright scarlet at something he'd read.

'L-Lils…how far d-d-did you read?' He stammered.

'To the bit where your mum said she would ask if you and Sirius could go visit your dad.' James visibly relaxed.

'Thank Merlin for that.' I heard him mutter. Sirius too heard him.

'Why? What's it say?' Sirius asked and pounced on the letter in James' hand. He snatched the letter, read it quickly and began cackling. 'Oh ho! You're one lucky bastard!' James made to grab it back but Sirius leapt up and sprinted out the Great Hall. James chased after him. Remus, Peter and I all exchanged a look of confusion.

* * *

It was a few days to Halloween as well as a Hogsmeade weekend which was why I was waiting outside Glad Rag's Wizard Wear. Inside was an enthusiastic mass of Hogwarts students looking for costumes to the fancy dress ball being held on Halloween night. To remove myself from the stuffy interior I had opted to take little Oliver outside for fresh air whilst his mum, 'Auntie Marls' and 'Auntie Al' were inside looking at clothes. I'd made sure that Oliver was tucked up cosily in his pram as I stepped outside with him and absentmindedly rocked the pram. The rocking of the pram by 'Auntie Lily' caused him to drift off to sleep.

'Well, well…Don't you look happy,' A voice said loudly next to me. I turned to face the speaker with a playful glower.

'Hush, James! You'll wake Ollie!' I whispered crossly.

'Sorry.' He answered in hushed tones. James moved slightly closer to me to look at Oliver sleeping soundly in his pram. One tiny hand curled around the top of his blanket as a gust of Autumn wind rushed through the street. 'Got your costume already?'

'Ummm...'

'What are you going as?'

'A hag…can't you tell?' I indicated to my face.

'Haha.' James replied. 'So, Clarke's going to be your Warlock? A Warlock and a hag. Interesting pairing and even more interesting children.' James nudged me as my stomach swirled uncomfortably. I hadn't told any of my mates about Tom and I splitting up as I worried about them overreacting. We had ended on alright terms but I wouldn't put it past my mates to beat Tom up for simply being my Ex. I knew that if Sirius knocked out his lights alongside Remus, James, a cheering Peter, Marlene, Mary and Alice I would never get over my guilt. One against seven was hardly fair.

'I'm not going with Tom. I told Mary I'd babysit Ollie.' I admitted. This was true and in all honesty, I didn't really entertain the idea of going to the Halloween Fancy Dress Ball.

'Then I'll join you.' James said simply.

'No, no. You go enjoy the Ball. I'm alright with just Ollie.' I insisted.

'I don't mind. We'll get a load of food from the Kitchens and watch Oliver together.' I looked at him sceptically. 'It'll be fun.'

'Fine.' Just then the Girls came outside and walked over to us.

'Sorry, Lily. That took longer than expected.' Mary said. James snorted and I smiled at my feet.

'Can we go to the Three Broomsticks? I'm starving.' Marlene complained so we headed for the pub.

'Mary, is it alright is James babysits with me?' I asked as we entered the warm interior and were greeted by the young, pretty barmaid Rosmerta. Mary's face momentarily curved into a knowing smile as she glanced at James. I had no idea why.

'Sure.' And she turned back to Marlene, Alice and Rosmerta who were cooing over Oliver.

* * *

Halloween night came and James and I entered Mary and Andrew's joint set of rooms together. Mary was dressed as a princess and Andrew as a prince. Both were wearing costumes in a matching pale blue. Andrew was currently rocking a crying Oliver in his arms in an attempt to calm him.

'Lily, I stilled some milk earlier for when he gets hungry. It's on the side of there.' She pointed towards the kitchenet in the corner of their living room. 'Oh, he's not going to stop, is he?' She asked Andrew to which he shook his head.

'James, you take Ollie.' I instructed. 'Go on, you two. Have fun!' I chivvied the two of them out the door and turned to see James holding Oliver at arm's length. He'd stopped crying and was now watching the person holding him with interest.

'Wow, full marks. Ollie won't kill you, you know. Hold him closer – like Andrew was.' Reluctantly, James held Oliver to his chest. Oliver gurgled happily and grabbed at James' jumper. I laughed at the look of apprehension on James' face. 'He's stopped crying. You've obviously got a way with kids.' He glowered at me.

'Oh, fu-'

'Now, now. Not bad language in here.' I scolded with a smile. 'I refuse to be part of the reason for corrupting my Godson.'

'Don't worry. I'll tell them it was me.' Oliver began to wail and James jumped in shock. 'W-what do I do?'

'Rock him.' I answered but no matter how much James rocked him, Oliver continued to bawl. 'D'you want me to try?' James passed the crying Oliver to me and I snuggled him into my chest. He continued to cry and I wondered if he might need a nappy change. With my wand, I summoned a clean nappy and a towel which I laid on the sofa. Then I placed Oliver on the towel and set about changing his nappy. I was done in a matter of seconds and Oliver's wailing subsided almost instantly.

'How did you know to do that?' James asked impressed.

'I've grown up around a lot of babies. My neighbour has 5 kids and I've babysat all of them. I mean the oldest one is only 3 years younger than me but the youngest is about a year and a bit old.'

'Right. So, what's it like where you live?' I studied James as I picked Oliver up and put him in my lap.

'Tell me about your home first.' I answered.

'Fine.' James paused. 'Most of the time I live in my family's estate. There's about 10 bedrooms and we've got a ballroom. I'll show it to you some time. It's not really near anywhere but it's got a lot of fields and countryside around it. There's a lake near by my Quidditch pitch that I've spent a lot of my summer's swimming in. We've got our holiday house in Germany and my parents want to buy a cottage in Godric's Hollow for me to move into after Hogwarts. They want to buy a place for Padfoot as well but they're still looking for one for him.'

I was silent. James didn't sound like he was showing off and was simply explaining to me where he lived. He was so casual about his personal Quidditch pitch and holiday house that I knew he thought it normal to own them. James had never struck me as innocent but it dawned on me then how innocent he was as a result of his privileged upbringing. He wasn't blind to the bad things in the world but he was blind to how much better off he was than most. I supposed, the only people he'd ever seen the houses of would have been Sirius, Remus, Peter and any other pureblood and half-blood families in his social circle. All those houses I knew to be large and well furnished; full of personal items and evidence of expensive holidays.

Eying James cautiously, I rocked Oliver and pondered what I would say.

'Well, I live in Cokesworth. It's a mill town and I've lived there my entire life. I guess Cokeworth is actually a city. I've never really thought about it – it's just home for me. The houses in the centre are the biggest and that's where the schools are. There's no countryside but when I was small we used to do days out on Sundays to the seaside or countryside. My home is a flat over our family bakery. We've got two bedrooms and no ballroom.' James smiled. 'It's nothing fancy but it's home.'

'You should visit me. How about for Christmas? We always have a Christmas Eve party. You'd like it.'

'I don't know…I…'

'I'll get my mother to send you a formal invitation. You can bring your dad, sister and her husband if you want. I want to see if he really looks like a walrus and a pig.'

'Vernon doesn't know about magic and Tuney doesn't like m…I mean, Tuney wouldn't want to go without him.' James frowned. 'I don't know about dad…'

'I guess you could bring Clarke then.' He said glumly.

'Or I could just go alone. I'll know you.' James visibly brightened.

'Great! You'll know Pads, Mooney and Wormy. The Woods will be there which means McDonald/Wood will be. We always invite the Longbottoms and the McKinnons and I imagine Young and Prewitt will be brought as plus ones. The Weasleys will be there. I think you and Molly will get on like a house on fire.' James continued to babble about all the guests that would be at his Christmas Party. My stomach gave a loud rumble which luckily didn't scare Oliver. 'FOOD!' James exclaimed loudly. 'You stay here…I'll go get some food.'

'He's a strange man isn't he Ollie?' I said to Oliver who gurgled sleepily.

'I heard that.' James said grumpily as he stood up. He went off to get food and I set about feeding Oliver and getting him ready for bed. By the time James returned, I was singing him to sleep. As Oliver fell into a deep sleep I stroked his head and turned out the light of his nursery. Quietly, I padded into the living room and saw James had laid out a kind of picnic on the floor.

'Nice.' I said grinning.

'You like it?' The two of us sat down and tucked into the food. 'So, Miss Evans, what is the actual reason you're here babysitting?' I tugged my plait.

'Mary really enjoys Balls so I thought it would be better if she went then if I did. I hate most Balls anyway.'

'You should try this amazing new thing, Lils. It's called being honest.'

'Haha.' I grumbled. 'What makes you think I'm lying.'

'The fact that you tugged your braid before answering. You only tug it when your nervous which you wouldn't be if the answer you gave was entirely true.'

'I was honest!' I said defensively.

'Come on, Lils, I wasn't born yesterday. What is it? Is Clarke a bad dancer or something?'

'It's got nothing to do with him!'

'See the way you said that told otherwise.' James fixed me with a hard gaze. 'You can tell me.' He said softly.

'We split up.' I muttered.

'Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?' James asked a smirk playing about his features.

'I split up with Tom.' I said louder.

'And how do you feel now? Good? Bad?'

'Average.' I shrugged and James chuckled. 'You're an awful counsellor. Laughing at a client. That's got to be at least minus 2 points.'

'I reckon you're alright if you can still roast me.'

'If I'm honest that was a pretty bad roast. The oven probably rejected it. I suppose that's minus 2 points for me too.' I laughed at myself.

'Self roasting clearly shows you to be fine.'

'Thank you for the deep insight Mr Potter.' I bowed my head and spotted some cake amidst the food James had brought. 'This cake…' I indicated at the large chocolate cake. 'Is it any good?'

'I don't know. I haven't tried any yet.'

'Is that so?' I asked slyly. James nodded and I picked it up as though to inspect it but instead threw it at James' face and smeared it all over his face.

'Lils!' He spluttered in indignation wiping cake off his glasses. I fell back laughing at his disgruntled, cake-covered face. 'I'll get you back for that!'

'Noooooooo!' I leapt up and began to run away from him. Ducking behind the sofa, I pulled out my wand and sent a tickling hex at him.

'N-N-No fair!' James complained as he squirmed. 'I'm r-r-really ticklish!'

'I can tell.' I crawled around the sofa and found I couldn't see James anymore. Holding my wand tightly I moved forwards listening intently. There was no sound except for the extremely quiet noise of Oliver's snuffling snores in the next room (I hadn't shut the door so we'd be able to hear him if he cried). Nothing. I backed against the solid wall nearest me. Still there was no sign of him.

'Lils, that was a really stupid move.' A voice said from above me. I shrieked in shock and jumped away from the 'solid wall'. What I had taken to be a wall was actually James standing extremely still with a Disillusionment charm cast on him. He shoved a piece of cake in my face and I raised my arms in surrender. Oliver by some miracle remained asleep despite the ruckus James and I had made.

'What are you made of? I had no idea you weren't a wall…'

'Rock hard abs, biceps of steel, the likes.' I snorted.

'We'd better clean up.' I cleaned everything with one swish of my wand and the same could be said for the cleaning of James and I. Just as everything was clean, the door opened and Mary and Andrew appeared. They looked a little tired but definitely as though they had enjoyed themselves.

James and I said goodbye to Mr and Mrs Wood and headed to our respective dormitories. Once in bed I stared at the canopy of my four-poster. The image of James holding Oliver flickered across my brain. I didn't mind missing the Ball and I smiled to myself as I thought of how I had spent my evening instead. Judging by the fact that Alice and Marlene's beds remained empty all night and were still empty when I woke the next morning it was lucky I hadn't gone as a single person. The Ball had apparently been quite couple orientated.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Is there anything you want in the next few chapters? I hope you like little Oliver Wood.**

 **Please Review :)**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

 **A/N: This chapter's set a bit after Halloween and I hope you liked last chapter. It was just a bit of bonding between Lily and James.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

It was 9.30 on a Thursday evening and I was doing my Prefect round. The full moon also hung in the sky meaning Remus was most likely already transformed and I was doing my round sans his company. The rest of the Marauders were probably also with him by now. Poor Remus. Even with the Wolfsbane potion the transformation was painful but at least he wouldn't hurt anyone or himself with his own mind still in place. An image of Remus in wolf-form on a lead dragging James across the Hogwarts grounds on his stomach while Sirius and Peter chased after them flashed across my mind. I knew instantly that Remus would be grinning mischievously as he did so after he had probably joked with the others about being tame enough to wear a lead now that he took the Wolfsbane potion and to his disgust they had decided to test his claims. Dragging James around on the floor would most likely be his idea of payback. Of course, I had no idea if that's what the Marauders were actually doing but it was a funny notion.

I continued on my round checking classrooms and broom cupboards for mister meaning students. Dismissing two third years, who had been getting quite _friendly_ in a disused and dusty classroom, with detentions I continued on my way. Why people thought hooking up in random classrooms was a good idea had always confused me. If someone expected me to shag them in a classroom then they weren't worth hanging around. I wandered through corridors and eventually turned onto one that was completely pitch black. Upon instinct, I cast 'lumos' non-verbally in order to find one of the torch brackets so I could light it. But my wand didn't cast the blue light it usually did. Instead it emitted a charcoal kind of powder and this powder swirled into the darkness before me. I needed to relight the corridor, it was my duty as a Prefect to make sure the school was safe for other students (a pitch-black corridor was an accident waiting to happen), so I begrudgingly headed into the dark.

The darkness was like a void filled with a strange thick, choking black. I gagged as I inhaled a breath. The 'air' stuck in my lungs and caused me to stop groping my way towards where I thought the wall was as I doubled over coughing. My eyes were scrunched up as I moved forwards once again. My spluttering had evidently caused something to stir. I heard it shift slightly and then it made a noise. This noise was truly one of the worst sounds I had ever heard. It was a cry. A throaty cry. Despite how choked the cry was it was still distinct and I grew panicked upon hearing it.

It was a baby's cry.

'Ollie!' I yelled and inhaled a mouthful of the powder-filled air. Stumbling over to the sounds of his crying I tripped over something solid and went thudding to the ground. I dropped my wand as I fell and began desperately feeling the ground for it. As I searched my hand knocked against whatever I had tripped over. Instantly, the darkness vanished and was replaced by an eerie green-tinged light that illuminated everything before me. The object I tripped over was a body which writhed for a moment as the words 'You don't learn to leave things alone, do you mudblood? Perhaps this will teach you.' seemed to tear themselves out of the body and float in the air above it. I stared at them horror-struck until another cry sounded from Oliver. The body was curled protectively around a bundle which was squirming and wailing.

'No!' I whispered and scrambled around the body to reach Oliver. I pulled him into my arms and rocked him close to my chest. 'It's alright, Ollie. Auntie Lily's here now…' It was then that I looked at the face of the body. The body was female with white-blonde hair that was cut to the fashionable shoulder-length and glowed green with the lighting of the corridor. 'Mary?'

She gave no response. Her limp state told me she was unconscious and I set about examining her whilst cuddling Oliver into my chest. He had stopped crying and only on occasion coughed but otherwise seemed undamaged. Carefully, I peeled back Mary's black robes to reveal her white blouse that was quickly turning a bright scarlet. The source of blood seemed to be her back and after stepping over to the other side of her and cautiously rolling up her blouse to reveal 7 slashes. Just the same as with the two victims before.

But I could fix the wounds this time; I was sure of it. In the last few days of last term when I'd been hiding from James I had spent most of my time in the Founder's Library. There I had learnt new healing spells, some of which had been for healing wounds caused by Dark Magic, and practiced them. I looked around for my wand and picked it up. Then I pointed it at Mary's back and began to murmur my incantation. Silvery flower petals floated lazily out of the tip of my wand and started to whirl around Mary's unconscious body trailing behind them silver glowing light. As I continued with my incantation the petals turned gold and danced their way towards the gashes. One by one they seeped into Mary's injuries and the wounds began to glow gold before healing themselves.

Once I was sure the wounds had healed I flicked my wand to send Arnold to fetch Madame Pomfrey. After he'd go, I cleaned myself, Mary and Oliver up and set about trying to replenish Mary's blood. I conjured a bottle of Blood Replenishing potion and tipped some down her throat as the sound of Madame Pomfrey arriving made me look up.

'Miss Evans!' She knelt down next to me.

'I healed her but she and Ollie need to have their lungs looked at. When I got here the corridor was filled with some kind of soot. I don't know how long they were here for but either way they'll have inhaled a lot of the ash.' I explained.

'Yes, of course. We'll bring them to the Hospital Wing and then you'll need to fetch Professor McGonagall while I sort out their lungs.' Madame Pomfrey conjured a stretcher and gently put Mary onto it. Then we headed to the Hospital Wing. Once inside we placed Mary on one of the beds and transfigure the one next to it into a cot for Oliver. I lay Oliver in his cot, looked worriedly at Mary's unconscious form and then turned to go get Professor McGonagall.

It was at the door that Madame Pomfrey called me back.

'By the way, Miss Evans; I like your new patronus. It suits you better.' I stared at her confused but nodded all the same. But when I left the Hospital Wing, I looked to my left and there was a silvery doe standing there looking at me expectantly. My eyes widened.

'A-Arnold?' I whispered. 'You changed! Just like that book said. But that means I've changed! I haven't changed though…' I stared at the doe who continued to watch me inquisitively. As I moved in the direction of Professor McGonagall's office the doe followed me. 'I suppose we'll have to think of a new name for you.'

The doe vanished as I reached Professor McGonagall's office and I knocked on the door. As usual, it opened instantaneously. I walked inside and closed the door behind me.

'Miss Evans?' Professor McGonagall said in surprise.

'There's been another attack.' I stated quietly bowing my head. 'On Mary and Ollie…'

'Then we must head to the them right away.' We began to make our way to the Hospital Wing. 'I find it strange how you have been the one to discover all three attacks, Miss Evans.'

'I'm not the one attacking them if that's what you mean, Professor.' I answered a little defensively.

'I was merely wondering if you were the intended finder of all of them.'

'I'm not sure…I think…they were all supposed to die but were prevented as they were found and healed. This time the attackers had a message for me but it's likely it would only have appeared if I was once again the person to find the victim(s) first.' I said slowly.

'It will take some investigation to find those responsible.'

'Yes, Professor.' The two of us were silent in thought for a moment. 'They know what they're doing.'

'Indeed, Miss Evans.' Professor McGonagall agreed. 'You don't happen to have any leads or ideas?' I glanced at her and saw her mouth had curved into a slight smile of amusement.

'Well…all those attacked were Muggleborns except Ollie whose Half-Blood but he wasn't hurt when I examined him. All three Muggleborns had 7 slashes on them which indicates they were all attacked by the same person or group of people. I recognise the spell but I have no idea from where so I've been trying to find it in the Library since the first attack. They haven't been in a particular House or in a particular year so I don't think that says anything.'

'Have you any ideas for who is behind the attacks?'

'I have 2…no 1 name but even that's not 100% certain.' Even though I knew Severus was guilty, I couldn't bring myself to report the boy I had once thought a friend. That I hated about myself. He had been behind the attack on Mary and yet I still didn't want to report him. I had no qualms in telling Professor McGonagall that Bulstrode was involved but I needed solid evidence not just a dream and a conversation overheard long ago. I knew he was involved but I wouldn't mention his name willingly until I had strong proof he'd been involved because if I was wrong then I would never forgive myself for reporting someone who was innocent.

'I see…' We reached the Hospital Wing and Madame Pomfrey handed me a small vial.

'Drink this, Miss Evans. It's for your lungs and then off to bed.' I nodded obediently, downed the contents of the vial and went to Gryffindor Tower. Once in bed, I set my alarm clock for 3 am.

* * *

My alarm went at 3 am and I quickly silenced it before pulling on a hoody over my pyjamas and heading into the common room to wait for the boy's return. Settling myself in an armchair near the fire I positioned myself so that I could easily see the Portrait Hole. While I waited I brainstormed names for my patronus because distracting myself from worrying about Mary and Oliver was essential. I had decided to go for a name that was that of a Goddess. Not because I felt my patronus was a Goddess but because patronuses were like guardians. Currently on my shortlist where the names Demeter and Themis. I couldn't decide between the two and fiddled with my mum's crucifix necklace as I waited for James, Sirius and Peter to return.

The three of them did return a few minutes later looking a little rumpled but otherwise alright. They grinned as they caught sight of me and headed over to where I sat.

'All good?' I asked.

'I hit my head on a tree but apart from that…' James trailed off as I tugged him over to examine his head. He sat obediently on the floor in front of my armchair.

'You two can go up already. This won't take too long.' Sirius and Peter nodded. I wondered if I saw Sirius wink at James before climbing the boy's staircase but I wasn't sure.

I gently put pressure on areas of James's head and watched him for a reaction. At one point he winced and I knew I'd found a bruise. Pulling my wand out from behind my ear, I pointed it at the bruise and healed it.

'Soooo…' I said awkwardly. There was no reason for me to feel awkward but for some reason I did. 'How was it? Fun?'

'Yeah. And how was your Prefect Round? _Fun_?' James smirked.

'Haha.' I said monotonously. 'There was another attack. On Mary and Ollie…'

'Shit!' James said loudly so I shushed him.

'But they're alright now. In the Hospital Wing but alright.'

'So, we're back to solving the mystery, are we?' James asked grinning.

'You look way too happy about that.' I reprimanded but nevertheless nodded with a small smile. There was silence for a moment.

'By the way,' James began. He looked a little nervous so I frowned. 'My Muggle Studies teacher told us we have to find someone in our year who's a Muggleborn and see if we can arrange to stay with them for a week at the start of December. We're supposed to experience the things we've learnt about first-hand to give us a better understanding of them. All that bullshit. I was wondering if… I could stay with you. We'd be missing school and have to catch up on work but I'm not really close friends with any other Muggleborns. I know it's really short notice…'

I was silent. Missing school wasn't what concerned me. It was the place James would be staying that worried me. I wasn't ashamed of my house or my situation but James wasn't used to the kind of place I lived in. From everything he'd ever told me he'd grown up in the life of luxury and definitely hadn't been to somewhere like the part of Cokesworth I lived in. But James needed somewhere to stay for his Muggle Studies lesson and if it helped his school work then it wasn't fair on him if I told him he couldn't stay with me. I didn't really have a just reason to say no.

'I'll write to my dad and see what he says but he'll probably say yes.' James hugged me in delight.

'Thanks, Lils!' He pulled out of the hug and grinned at me. 'My parents will pay for any of my expenses.' James added. I rolled my eyes at him.

'Talking of your parents, how's your dad?'

'Better. Loads better. Mother brought him home yesterday but he's not allowed to leave our house and grounds until after Christmas.' James chuckled. 'When Pads and I visited him in St Mungos he was already pissed at having to stay in bed. I can only imagine what he's like now.'

'Well, it's good he's alright.' I glanced at the fire. 'We'd better head to bed.'

'Yeah…' We looked at each other for a moment. 'Night, Lils.'

'Night, James.' The two of us headed to our respective dormitories and once I had reached my bed I pulled some parchment, a quill and some ink towards me.

 **A Letter From Lily Evans To John Evans**

Dear Dad,

I meant to reply to your letter the day I got it but I didn't really have anything to say. Now however is a very different story. I've got a few things to say but I'll try keep them short.

First, Alice and Frank are together. FINALLY. I don't know how long the entirety of my friendship group has been waiting for this but it's happened and we can't complain. I've mentioned Frank before – I think. He was at Mary's wedding and in the photo of me and all my mates. Anyway, they really are great together and another plus is that they're not really really affectionate around other people. I reckon if they were then I would officially refuse to be around them. It happened at the Halloween Ball. I'm not going into details but let's just say they got quite _friendly_. It's quite weird to think that almost exactly a year ago everything went a bit pear-shaped for the two of them. But it's all good now.

Well, Cupid must be practically throwing his arrows around because Marlene and Kieran are also together. I don't think I've ever mentioned Kieran but that's irrelevant. Their relationship wasn't quite as long awaited but it's still something that makes me sigh with relief. All is well in my friendship group. For once there's no drama. The feeling, in case you're wondering, is brilliant.

Mary's had her baby. He's called Oliver and the cutest thing ever! And I'm his Godmother – we'll see if that's a good thing or not. I'm taking my responsibility seriously but that doesn't mean I'm good at it. Do you remember when Maggie had Kate? I thought I'd explode from cute overload then but I had cracks appear in me when I saw Oliver. You don't even want to see that.

Lastly, I need to ask you something. As you know, James and I are now friends and he needs somewhere to stay for a week in the non-magical world for his Muggle Studies class. He's asked if he can stay with us (I would also be coming home for a week) at the start of December. Is that alright? It's fine if it's not but I thought I'd ask.

But anyway…

Love you lots,

Lily

* * *

Two weeks later and James and I were standing outside Kings Cross Station waiting for my dad to pick us up. We had spent the journey to the station doing the work given to us by our Professors for the week of lessons we would be missing and I was proud to say I had almost finished it. Dad's ancient car drew up and the two of us headed towards it. James insisted on lifting both our trunks into the boot and then we got into the car after I hugged my dad in greeting and James shook his hand.

'That's a seatbelt.' James said proudly as he pointed at one of the seatbelts in the car.

'Very good.' I said grinning. Dad caught my eye and I could tell he was trying not to laugh. 'D'you know what you're supposed to do with it?' James shook his head and watched eagerly as I demonstrated what to do. He mimicked my actions. 'Excellent. We'll make a Muggle of you yet.'

'So, James,' Dad began as we headed into London's traffic. 'D'you have anything you need to do this week for your M-u-g-g-l-e Studies?'

'Professor Albury gave us a list of suggestions but she said we don't have to do them.' James fumbled in his pocket for a moment and pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of parchment. He opened it up. 'Watching a f-i-l-m, using Muggle money, watching Muggle Sport, etc…'

'Doesn't that sound fun and exciting?' I asked brightly. James nodded with anticipation whilst my dad laughed.

'We only really do theory in lessons but I think Muggle things are really interesting.' I nodded with a smile and dad grinned.

By the time we reached our street it was extremely dark and therefore virtually impossible to see anything without the aid of the car's headlights. We pulled up in front of the house and got out. James and I lugged the trunks up the stairs to the front door while dad unlocked it and let us in. I led James down our shabby hallway into my room and clicked on the light. There was a mattress on the floor with a quilt and pillow on it.

'We'll be sharing a room if that's alright. You're on the bed and I'm on the floor. No arguing about that either.' I said matter-of-factly. James nodded obediently. 'You can put your things in the wardrobe.' He began to unpack his things as I went into the kitchen to make dinner. After dinner Dad, James and I played Cluedo before dad headed to bed. I made hot chocolate for the two of us and we sat in the living room drinking it.

'I'm sorry it's not much. Most Muggles don't live like this…' I said quietly.

'I think it's great.' James answered. I smiled slightly.

'I reckon I'll be helping out in the bakery in the afternoon. Dad's running a self-defence class then so you can help out if you want. That'll be using Muggle money and working in a Muggle shop. You can help making bread and things as well.'

'You'll have to teach me how.' He answered. 'I've never cooked or anything before.'

'What!?' I asked astounded. 'N-never?'

'Never.' James said firmly. 'The House Elves cook in my house. I've tried helping them but I just caused chaos.' I grinned.

'By the end of this week you'll have cooked something. That I can guarantee.' We drained the last of our hot chocolate and then took it in turns to get ready in the bathroom. Then we crawled under our respective covers. 'Sorry if I wake you tomorrow morning.' I whispered as silence filled the room. 'I'll be up to help dad with the morning batch of bread. Feel free to have a lie in.'

'Mmm…' Came James' response. 'Night, Lils.'

'Night James.'

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Next chapter's going to be James' stay in Cokesworth. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm excited to write the next chapter.**

 **Please Review :)**


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

 **A/N: Welcome back! It's James' week in the land of Muggles and non-magic. I'm excited; I hope you're excited. It's going to be great.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

I awoke early and at exactly 5.06 am according to the tired looking clock that hung on my wall. Pushing myself up off my mattress I got up and looked over at James; he was shivering slightly under his quilt. I picked up my own blanket and laid it carefully over him so as not to wake him. Then I quietly shuffled my way into the kitchen to see dad in there getting a glass of water whilst holding a piece of toast in his hand. Opening the cupboard I looked around for some cereal and pulled the box towards me. I took a bowl and some milk from the fridge. I brought both things to the table and sat down. In companionable silence dad and I ate before heading into the back room of the bakery to bake the bread dad had prepared the night before.

'So, James…' Dad began as we put the first batch of rolls in the oven. 'He seems nice.'

'Umm, yes he is.' I answered uncertainly. Dad stared at the rolls in the oven for a moment.

'Does Tom know he's staying here?' He asked suddenly. It took me a few seconds to realise I hadn't told dad that I'd split up with Tom. I'd finally told all my friends but with no details. As far as they were concerned our conversation had only comprised of the mutual decision we had no feelings for each other anymore.

'It doesn't matter if he knows or not. James and I are just mates.'

'Does Tom know that?'

'I split up with Tom so if he thinks there's something going on between James and I then that's his problem.' I said firmly. I turned to look at dad and an expression of bewilderment flashed across my face. Dad had done a jerky movement of his arms as though to raise his arms in celebration but then thought better of it. Strange.

'You okay?' He asked concernedly.

'I'm fine. Could be worse. We ended things a few weeks ago because of stuff…'

'He didn't cheat on you, did he?' Dad asked suddenly sounding as though he was ready to rip Tom's head off.

'No, no!' I replied instantly tugging at my plait. 'It doesn't matter.' He didn't respond but I did hear him mutter about asking James something. What he wanted to ask James I had no idea but I decided against questioning him. 'Sooo…'

'I wasn't really the biggest fan of Tom if I'm being honest.' Dad said suddenly. 'I know I never met him but from everything you told me he just seemed like everything I didn't imagine you going for. He sounded boring and I've always thought someone with a sense of adventure would be good for you.'

'Oh right…I would have split with him the second you said you didn't like him, you know.'

'That's exactly why I didn't say anything. I know you Lils.' He ruffled my hair. 'You need to follow your own heart. Don't let my opinion stop you doing stuff.'

'But I couldn't properly be happy with someone you didn't like.' I admitted. 'After all, I intend to visit you most days once I leave Hogwarts and get a place of my own.'

'Good to know.' Dad answered chuckling.

'Well, it would mess up my plans if you didn't like my boyfriend. By the way, I'm helping you run the bakery if you like it or not.'

'Fine.' He responded raising his hands in surrender.

'Besides I've already told Professor McGonagall that at my careers meeting with her before Easter.'

'You're not going for any other job?' Dad asked anxiously. 'But that's just giving up everything you've learnt at Hogwarts.'

'Professor McGonagall said she would try and arrange a part time Healer training course for me. She's been really supportive of me.' My dad visibly relaxed.

'That's good. So, a Healer's like a doctor?'

'Yup.'

'I think you'll be a great doc-Healer.'

'Thanks dad.' I answered grinning at him. 'Why are you so tall?' I complained. 'I literally have to look up to talk to you. You're not as bad as James at least. He's a bloody giant.'

'That's your mum's genes. We're all tall on my side. I think Pet got those genes.' He nudged me.

'Hey! A – I'm taller than Tuney. B – Mum was also shorter than me. And C – I'm not that small! You're all trolls is all.' I cried indignantly.

'Charming.'

'That's me. Your ever so charming youngest daughter.' We both laughed.

* * *

James and I were cycling towards the large mill in Cokesworth. Well, James couldn't cycle having grown up in the wizarding world where bikes didn't exist so he sat on the back of my bike squealing like a pig about going too fast. Oh, the mighty Gryffindor Quidditch Captain! It was because of this it took us much longer to reach the mill gates then it should have. The mill had always looked uninviting to me and as a small child I had been sure it was haunted. It had a huge tower that smoked thick black clouds and towering buildings with stained grubby looking bricks. The gates themselves were a blackened iron with latches that had long stopped working so they creaked eerily with the slightest breeze. It was the gates that had made me think the place was filled with ghosts but upon attending Hogwarts I met real ghosts and decided the mill wasn't haunted.

'Well, Mr Muggle Studies, this is a mill.' I indicated at the ugly factory in front of me as we got off the bike. 'A Victorian mill to be exact. I mean, the inside's more up to date than that but it still manufactures textiles.' I said looking at James. His mouth hung slightly open as he took in the mill before him.

'It's huge…' He mumbled lamely. Chuckling at the sight of his shocked face I pushed my bike towards a tree, which had been there since at least the first time Tuney and I had snuck into the mill, and tied my bike to it. Severus and I had also snuck in on numerous occasions. It was part of being a kid in my neighbourhood to break into the mill. There was nothing particularly amazing about the interior but it was the thrill of not being caught that made it amazing. Even if we had a legitimate excuse to be in the mill we would still go in the way we always did. That included the time Maggie had asked me to bring Jeff's lunch to him. I had been 9 and eagerly agreed before promptly running to get Severus for back up in my expedition.

'Want to go inside?' I asked slyly.

'I-I-I…What?' James' eyes widened. 'Are we allowed?'

'Nope.' Was my calm response.

'Right.' His face split into a grin. 'Are you suggesting what I think you are?'

'I have no idea what you mean.' I answered innocently. Swiftly, I began to move alone the iron bar fence that went all the way round the site. Eventually, we reached a part of the fence by the windowless back of the mill that had its bars bent. It was this that had allowed the generations of Cokesworth children to perform this kind of ritual. My mum had told Tuney and I that she and dad had snuck in together and that was where they'd had their first kiss. Oh, the romance. Nothing could possibly beat kissing in a building that looked like it came directly out of a textbook on the Industrial Revolution. On second thoughts, maybe there was something that drew couples to the mill. Tuney too, had had her first kiss here with a boy called Nick Holmes. Thinking back, Nick had a cold at the time of the kiss so Tuney was ill for a whole week after their romantic encounter.  
I slid through the bars and indicated that James should do the same. He followed me and then the two of us crept up to an iron clad ladder that was attached to the back wall. I began to climb it until I reached the top and cautiously pulled myself through a door that came out onto a tiny balcony on the back wall. This door had been broken for years and opened easily at my touch. As I waited for James to mimic my actions I looked around the room I had climbed into.

'It's empty.' James whispered from next to me. 'I thought there'd be ma-machines and things.'

'This floor's been empty for almost as long as I can remember. They only use the first two these days what with their making people redundant most weeks. I think the first few times I came here there was still a full room in here. Jeff, he's my neighbour's husband, worked up here till he was promoted to foreman on the bottom floor.' I explained in a hushed voice as we moved toward the staircase that would lead to the floor below. The staircase led to a corridor which we walked along. The inside wall had windows in it so we could look into the room behind at the lines upon lines of looms being worked by hundreds of workers. They worked with mechanical pace and in sync with one another as they moved with the giant machinery.

'Wow.' James said in awe. 'That is insane.'

'It's a terrible job is what it is.' I answered. 'Bad conditions, bad pay and bad hours is all it is.'

'Your neighbour works here?' He asked still in shock.

'Well, he's on the next floor down but yeah. In fact…' I scanned the workers. 'That's Severus' dad over there.' I pointed at Tobias who for once looked sober. He wore a scowl as he worked.

'Snivellus' dad?' James spluttered.

'Don't call him that!' I snapped. James' eyes hardened slightly.

'Why shouldn't I? You're not mates anymore. I can call him whatever I like.' He retorted.

'Oh never mind.' I sighed. 'You wouldn't understand.' My eyes saddened as I thought of the boy who used to be my friend. Every ounce of me wanted to forgive him but I knew I couldn't. I had told him we had chosen two different paths and those paths wouldn't join together which I knew was true. I would always care about him even if he hated me and supported the views of someone who wanted people like me dead. James opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off. 'Just drop it, James.' I said quietly. Perhaps it was the tone of my voice that stopped him continuing.

We walked another floor down but this time when James saw the looms he remained silent and I didn't bother to say anything. I easily spotted Jeff and waved at him. He quickly instructed one of the workers to do something and they returned with greater speed to their loom before he headed over to the door out of the room and into the corridor we stood in.

'Lily!' He said grinning. 'What you doing here?'

'I'm showing James the mill.' I answered and Jeff and James shook hands.

'Ahh.' Jeff nodded knowingly. 'I fully expect you to be there for Kate's first sneaking in here. The boys've been talking about it already and she's only just walking. I'll be happier if someone mature goes with them.'

'Don't worry yourself Jeff.' I grinned at him. 'Remember Michael's first sneak?'

'Of course. I don't think many could forget the day when a load of chickens mysteriously made their way in.'

'Michael sounds like a good kid.' James said with a smirk. Jeff laughed.

'He bends the rules now and then but he's alright really.' I snorted at Jeff's statement. Michael could often be like a mini James Potter but I refrained from commenting. Jeff checked his watch.

'I'd better get back. If anyone asks you why you're here just say you were visiting me. You'll be able to go out the front that way.' We thanked him and said goodbye before exiting the mill. Slowly we headed back to where I'd tied up my bike. We aid nothing on the journey back to mine nor did we say anything as walked into the bakery. Dad hurried off to run his self-defence class and I took over running the shop. Briefly, James and I conversed as I showed him how to knead bread before I left him doing that in the back room whilst I manned the front. The bakery bell tinkled as Eileen walked in.

'Lily!' She cried delightedly and the two of us hugged. 'I can't believe I haven't seen you since the summer!' She pulled out of the hug and took out a list from her pocket. 'Well, I'll have a white loaf and a mixed grain loaf please.'

'Sure.' I began getting her bread as she started chatting.

'So, you said in you last letter you were staying for a week with James Potter here as well. Is he here?'

'He's in the back.' I said. 'Kneading dough.'

'Good, good. Got him working hard?' She nodded.

'Yup. I run a tight ship.'

'I bet you do.' Eileen and I laughed as James came out of the back.

'Lils, I finished but I need you to check I did it right.' He said and then noticed Eileen. 'Hi, I'm James.'

'Eileen.' Eileen answered and smiled at him. Her smile seemed weirdly knowing and I instantly grew wary. 'I think Mrs J will be fine with him.' She indicated James and I groaned.

'Really?' I asked in exasperation and began to wrap the loaves in newspaper. 'James, I'll check in a sec.'

'Okay.' He answered cheerfully.

'So you're in Gryffindor with Lily?' Eileen asked a wicked smile playing about her face. I knew then that my Aunt-like figure was enjoying the look of surprise sitting on James' face.

'What?' James gasped in shock. Eileen chuckled and indulged herself with a long laugh before explaining herself.

'Don't worry lad. I'm a witch.' I rolled my eyes and tied up the newspaper packages with string. 'Play Quidditch at all?'

'Yeah, I'm a chaser.' James answered although he looked slightly unsure.

'And Captain.' I added under my breath. '26p please.' I said at normal volume and Eileen handed me the change in exchange for her bread.

'I'll see you two around,' She said winking at me, to which I raised my eyebrow, and exited the shop.

'And that was Severus' mum.' I informed James as we walked into the back.

'That was Snivellus' mum!?' James asked incredulously. 'I can see it but at the same time I really can't.'

'Kind thoughts make kind faces.' I replied and James looked at me strangely as I inspected his kneading of dough. 'Not bad… This one could do with a bit more though.'

* * *

That evening, once dad had gone to bed and James was in the bathroom, I left a note saying I had gone out for a bit and climbed onto the roof of my home. I looked out over my neighbourhood in the dark and sighed.

When I had told Eileen about the ending of my friendship with Severus she had cried a little. It wasn't completely, she had said, because of Severus and I no longer being mates but that he had said _that_ word and in doing so chosen his Slytherin friends over me. He'd turn his back on a true friend to join those who only looked out for themselves. Severus was going to the Dark Side and leaving those who cared about him in wrecks behind him. Eileen had said she should've left Tobias and if she'd done so Severus would have grown up in a completely loving home. Instead she'd stayed with Tobias because  
'I love the stupid arsehole and my messed up brain will never admit he's a danger to anyone. Everything thing he does to hurt me I think I deserve it and that stupid idea of being the one to fix him still sits in my head. That idea's been there since the day I met him. But when he proposed to me I had to think about it and Lily if you learn anything from your wreck of an Aunt is that you don't say yes if you have to think about it. If you have to think about it then there's something stopping you and even if you can't remember it, it's right there. Things will only go downhill from there. Believe me – I know.'

Eileen blamed herself for the fact that Severus had chosen the Dark Side but I knew that there were more factors that that. In the last week of school, after the Incident, when I'd been hiding from people, I'd spent some of my time with the Gamekeeper Hagrid who'd found me sitting by the Lake one afternoon and insisted I have a cup of tea with him. In all honesty, that cup of tea had led me to start talking. I found that Hagrid hadn't judged me and simply listened as I explained the events of the Incident. He'd told me that when 'Someone goes over ter the Dark Side there's nothin' and none that matters to 'em anymore.' I supposed that may have been true of Severus but that cup of tea with Hagrid had helped. Now whenever I saw Hagrid I would smile and or wave; no one (except Hagrid and I) knew the reason why but no one questioned it.

I realised that I'd been crying as I found myself wiping away fat tears that had been falling in a continual stream down my face. The coldness of December reached me and I shivered slightly but did not head inside. Something stopped me. Perhaps it was the thought of facing James or perhaps it was the thought of confronting sleep. Sleep with dreams I could not control. My dreamless sleep potion had run out a few days previous and I had not yet had time to make a new one. I was also reluctant to do potion making outside of Hogwarts.

Ever since James had called Severus Snivellus things had been awkward. I supposed it was stupid of me to expect James to stop calling him that, Sirius did after all call him that, but with James it had made my chest tighten uncomfortably. I had told Sirius on many occasions to not call Severus that but never aggressively. With James however I had snapped immediately. Why?

I sighed again and climbed back down from the roof and headed inside. Quietly, I used the bathroom and crept into bed. James slept peacefully and as I lay down on my own mattress I envied him.

* * *

The next day I had enlisted James to help me clean the house. Tuney and Vernon were coming for lunch and everything had to be perfect. Even the rooms they wouldn't see. James and I were in dad's room making his bed.

'When Tuney comes, you're going to have to do almost all of the talking. Remember Vernon doesn't know about magic so we're simply working on a project. The project can be on…running a household. If you're asked what you want to do for a job say something from your Muggle Studies lessons. I don't know. Umm…'

'Policeman?' James offered.

'Perfect! You want to be a policeman. Also, mention you're from a different part of the school from me. The non-specialised part.' I said slightly harassed as I tried to think of all the things James would need to know in order for Vernon not to think him mentally impaired. If he said he was in my class then Vernon would assume him to have mental defects as he already thought I did. As far as Vernon was concerned my mental capacity reached being able to say thank you, yes and no as well as being able to serve people. 'Just go along with what Tuney says for the most part. And don't let anything either of them say get to you. Vernon in particular is quite opinionated.'

'What do you mean?' I purposefully ignored his question as I turned to put some clean laundry in my dad's chest of drawers.

'When I was a baby, I slept in that drawer.' I said reminiscently. 'Pulled out obviously. And before I slept in there Tuney did. This chest of draws was in my room and instead of the bed you're sleeping in it was a bunk bed which my parents slept in. The bed in here was what my grandparents slept in. When they died, my parents moved in here and Tuney and I got the bunk bed. Well, it was only Tuney at first – I wasn't born then. We gave the bunk bed to Maggie and Jeff across the road for her boys to sleep in and we got their single bed which is the one you're sleeping in. Tuney had moved out by then so there wasn't much point me having a bunk bed all to myself.'

'So, Maggie and Jeff have two sons and a daughter?'

'Oh no. She's got five kids. Michael, Sam, Charlie, Josh and Kate. The boys share the bunk bed and then Kate's currently in her pram but when she's older I'm not sure where she'll sleep. We might give them our spare mattress.'

'But how do the boys share the bunk bed? I mean, there's four of them!'

'Well, in their old bed they slept two heads at each end but in the bunk bed it's on at each end in each bed. I've babysat a few times so I should know.' I answered shrugging.

'Why don't they just have a bed each?' James asked confused.

'Because their POOR!' I cried in exasperation. 'You think anyone round here lives this way by choice? You think people here choose to struggle to pay their rent? You think the boys chose to share beds rather than have their own?'

'I-I'm sorry…' He said regretfully. 'That was a stupid question.'

'It was a bit.' I answered with a sad smile. 'And apology accepted.' The doorbell rang. 'Right.' I said clapping my hands. 'You remember everything I told you?'

'Yup.'

'Good because I won't be saying much.'

'But why w-' I didn't stay to hear the rest of James' question but rushed to the door and opened it. Tuney and Vernon walked in and I took their coats. Hanging them up I turned to see James greeting Mr and Mrs Dursley. He was the pinnacle of politeness and to my great relief both Dursleys didn't respond in a haughty fashion. Dad then came out of the kitchen and chivvied us all to the table where I began serving drinks whilst dad returned to the kitchen to watch the roast in the oven.

'L-i-l-y, I-will-have-a-glass-of-the-wine-we-brought.' Vernon said ever so slowly to which I nodded and poured him some red liquid. Tuney chose to go for a cup of tea, James reluctantly asked for some tea also and I went off into the kitchen to make some. My dad was just taking the roast chicken out of the oven and grinned at me as I began to boil water.

'Vernon's grown a moustache.' He said gleefully and began to chuckle heartily.

'Well, they do say love is blind.' I added with a swift smile.

'I suppose so but I like to think that when your mum was alive she would've had a problem with me having a moustache.'

'I bet she would. And so would I so don't you dare. I will refuse to be seen with you if you grow one.'

'I'll bear that in mind. But would you have an issue with any certain young men growing one?' I frowned at dad.

'Umm… If you mean the boys at Hogwarts, then no. A moustache is about the biggest amount of hair their baby faces can grow and I wouldn't want to be the one crushing their dreams about being manly.' Dad snorted. The water boiled and I poured it into two tea cups and stewed a teabag in each one for a bit before removing it. When returning to the dining table in the living room I found James telling Tuney and Vernon he was from a separate part of school to me.

'Yeah, Lils and I are from different parts of school. She's in the specialised part and my bits ordinary. We don't normally have much to do with each other. Except for this project obviously.' Ah, he'd remembered everything.

'Yes, yes. We thought you seemed normal. Petunia's told me Lily has some issues in her brain. Deformed, you know?' The ever-delightful Vernon agreed. James suddenly looked as though he'd realised what my meaning of specialised had been. I quietly set down the cups of tea and sat down at the table.

'So, Joe-' Vernon began.

'It's James.' James responded a little coldly.

'Ah yes, James. What career are you aiming for because I'll be looking for a new intern soon and you might like that. Get you away from people like Lily.'

'I want to be a policeman. Helping reduce crime is something I'm interested in.' He answered firmly.

'Putting people in jail isn't going to help anyone. When they learn that hanging is the only way to deal with criminals will be the day crime is reduced again.' I glanced at James worriedly.

'Hanging?' He asked confused. Of, course! James being pureblood wouldn't know what hanging was. I disagreed with Vernon but shit!

'Yes exactly.' Vernon continued. 'Criminals wouldn't do anything if they knew there was a nice little noose waiting for them.' Yeah, Vernon, because that worked before. Oh, the 1960s, known for their introduction of the morning sickness pill with absolutely no bad side effects and the 0% crime rate.

Before James could look anymore bewildered my dad walked in carrying the roast. I dished everyone out a serving and we tucked in.

'So, L-i-l-y, how-is-school-going?' Vernon directed his question at me but Tuney answered.

'When Lily last wrote she said that she had a boyfriend.' I looked at Tuney and she glowered back with an expression that plainly said play along. Dad frowned at her but she ignored him.

'Is-he-like-you-then?' Vernon asked snidely. Glancing at Tuney who nodded, I nodded my head also. James made to open his mouth but I kicked him under the table. 'Joe, d'you know this boy? I assume he isn't in any of your classes.'

'No. But I do know him. We don't really get along.' James replied with a frown in my direction.

'Good lad. Don't mix with anyone like that for as long as you can. It does you no favours in your life.'

* * *

A few hours later and the Dursleys left. During those hours Tuney had invited dad for Christmas and I had agreed to stay at school. Once I had finished the washing up, James had helped me, I pulled on a coat and said I was going out for a bit. Just as the previous night I climbed onto the roof and looked out at Cokesworth in the dark. My solitude didn't last long and I soon heard someone edging across the roof to where I was.

'I thought you were scared of heights.' Was the first thing James said to me as he sat down beside me.

'The roof it a solid thing.' I answered. 'I trust it not to break.'

'Right.' The two of us sat in silence for a moment. 'So, all that stuff you told me to say… why?'

'I didn't want them to think you were like me. Vernon doesn't know about magic and Tuney thinks I'm a freak so she told Vernon I have mental issues. I didn't want them to be horrible to you.'

'I would've dealt with it. But I was so close to breaking the statute of secrecy and hexing them. It was how they spoke to you that pissed me off. Petunia's your sister so I didn't and the fact I like your dad stopped me. I wouldn't want him to dislike me.'

'Tuney and I used to be best friends, you know.' I stared out over the roofs before me. 'Then I found out I could do weird things, magic, and she didn't like me being able to do it. She said I was a freak and we stopped being friends. I became mates with Severus and he told me all about the wizarding world. I knew Eileen already, she bought bread at the bakery and was best friends with my mum. Severus and I did everything together and were really close. Then when I got accepted to Hogwarts Severus found a letter Professor Dumbledore had written to Tuney. She'd asked if she could go to Hogwarts as well and he'd replied saying that she couldn't because she wasn't magic. It was private of course but 11-year-old me saw nothing wrong with reading it. I stupidly told Tuney I'd seen it the day before I left for Hogwarts and she's hated me ever since.'

'I'm sure she doesn't hate you.' James put his arm around me comfortingly. I gave a bitter laugh.

'You know, deep down I know that if I hadn't made friends with Severus I wouldn't have gone at all. When Professor McGonagall came to give me my letter I would've said no. I would've stayed here and forgotten all about it. Being friends with Severus was what really started to drive Tuney and I apart. But that's the thing. I would choose Tuney over magic any day.  
Here I wasn't rejected until I began to show an interest in why I could do those strange things. Once I began feeling like a misfit I thought the magical world would be the place for me. A place where I'd be accepted and where everyone was the same as me. But what I found was different. The first day of lessons told me that. I remember someone spitting at my feet as I walked into Transfiguration and someone calling me a Mudblood when I answered a question in Potions. Even you made me feel like I wasn't welcome.'

'Me?'

'Not intentionally but after that first day of school my brain brought back what you said to me the night of our Sorting Ceremony. You asked "What – is – that?" and after a day of realising I wasn't wanted by some of the magical community it made me feel so inferior. I promised myself that I would work so hard and prove everyone wrong. I've stuck with that ever since.'

'I never realised…' James admitted softly.

'I don't blame you for it now but I guess that was the start of my dislike for you. It was egged on by Severus and even the Girls, Sirius, Remus and Peter encouraged it. I've never understood why but I'm glad we're friends now. I've opened up to you more than most people.'

'You didn't miss out on much in those years we weren't friends. I was a git to you. When you said that stuff to me at the end of last year it was suddenly like I realised what I was doing. And when you then said you wanted to be friends. Well, I don't regret it but I was pretty shocked. After all the stuff I've done to you I wouldn't want to be friends with me.' I chuckled lightly.

'I was pretty horrible to you too.' I reminded him.

'Yeah but I deserved it.'

'Not all the time. The amount of times you just greeted me and I gave a rude response.'

'I would call that starting the conversation in your favour.'

'Well if you want to justify my being mean.'

'I've had worse casual insults thrown at me.' James said laughing. 'I remember the time I told Harriet Ross there'd been no strings attached after we'd hooked up at a party. The next time I saw her in the corridors she tried hexing me.'

'I remember that.' I said. 'The day after that she broke down in front of you holding a lacy bra and howling.' James snorted. 'Does this mean nothing to you?' I fake sobbed and clutched at James' coat. 'That was the best night of my life and now you just throw me aside?' I had to stop my impression as I was overcome by laughter.

* * *

It was the last day of James' experience in the Muggle World. After my turn in the bathroom I returned to my room to find James looking out of the window. He was frowning at whatever was happening in the street below.

'What are they doing?' He asked confused. I joined him by the window and saw the kids of Hargreaves's Avenue playing football.

'Playing football.'

'I've read about that in my textbook.'

'Well come on, Mr Muggle Studies.' I dragged James out of my room and then onto my street. 'Oi Michael!' I yelled and the game stopped as Maggie's eldest son made his way over.

'Hey Lily.' He greeted me and nodded in James' direction.

'James here has never played football. D'you reckon you can teach him?'

'Sure thing.' Michael looked him up and down with suspicion. 'This your boyfriend, Lily?'

'No, so you can be nice.'

'Fine.' He smirked in a way very similar way to James. 'But we should show him a game first. You playing Lily?'

'If you let me, Captain.' I grinned at him.

'Lily's joining my team.' He announced to everyone else and the game commenced. For the next 30 minutes we dodged and kicked the ball. My team won 3-0 and as I walked over to James, sweaty and slightly out of breath, I noticed he was staring at me open mouthed.

'And that was sport.' I said smugly. 'Take that Quidditch.'

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **I hope you liked that chapter. We had some Jily bonding time so that's good. Back to school again next chapter.**

 **Please Review :)**


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

 **A/N: We're back at school. Hurray! Not for long though. I reckon next chapter will be Christmas in Jily land. I hope you liked last chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

Upon returning to Hogwarts the first thing I noticed was that Marlene had once again taken to hiding behind people, mainly me, whenever Kieran was around. Any attempt to question her about her appeared desire to play Whack-a-Mole, with Kieran as the hammer, had led to an angry huff from my honey-eyed friend. Alice and Mary had originally found it hilarious but now found it annoying because if you were talking to Marlene and anyone male wandered past she would duck with a terrified squeak and you would have to reassure her it wasn't Kieran.

Whatever the cause of her hiding, I tried to be helpful. But it wasn't easy seeing as she had Quidditch practice with him 3 times a week and had to play alongside him. Because of this I had now been demanded to watch every Quidditch practice so she could rush over to me and pretend to be too focused on our conversation to notice Kieran trying to talk to her whenever practice was adjourned. I had to admit that Kieran was growing more and more creative in his attempts to talk to her - once attempting to summon her watch so that she would be dragged along behind it. This had forced me to intervene and summon the watch myself with a stronger summoning charm. I was quite impressed that my spell had managed to overpower Kieran's. Needless to say, I had attended more Quidditch practices than I had ever wanted to and spent too many hours being bored watching the Gryffindor team practice. The worst thing was I had to look as though I was enjoying it whenever one of my mates looked over. One time I hadn't smiled when James had looked at me and he'd literally flown to where I was just to ask me whether I was alright.

Currently, I was in the stands doing my homework as the red-robed players flew above me. The cold wasn't an issue as I had cast warming charms on myself and had a jar of bluebell flames which were also my source of light. I sighed as I wrote my concluding paragraph for Thornton's essay on fighting dementors. I was unsure of whether I felt using occlumency and therefore making myself invisible to dementors was more effective or the patronus charm. Either way I decided that a patronus charm was harder to achieve because thinking of your happiest memory was quite difficult in particular when under pressure. Removing all emotions was a technique used by many exam students so therefore more people would be able to do it.

There was a shout from above and Marlene pelted towards me being chased by Kieran. Both were exceptionally good flyers but in her desperation to avoid him Marlene had a little more speed. She practically crash-landed next to me and grabbed me.

'Pack up your stuff!' She cried panicked. 'Quickly!' I obliged with a flick of my wand and stood up. She pulled me onto her broom and we flew off as fast as possible back to the castle with me protesting all the way. Kieran followed a little way behind us and I found myself egging Marlene on despite my fear of flying.

'He's gaining on us!' I yelled in her ear and she sped forwards. We bombarded through the front doors and skidded to a halt in the Entrance Hall. There was a thud as we both fell off the broomstick. Gingerly, I got to my feet, cursing flying, and dragged Marlene up. 'Come on Marls. He'll be in here any moment.' That got her moving and we sprinted up the staircase and through as many corridors as we could. Eventually, breathing got the better of us and we were forced to stop. 'You'd better explain yourself soon.' I grumbled.

'I don't want to.' She whined.

'Marlene Young! You flew – FLEW – me a goodness know how many miles per hour across the grounds of Hogwarts and then made me sprint through Hogwarts to avoid a _boy_! You'd better start talking or I'll get Kieran right now and keep you here until you talk to him.'

Marlene stared at the floor for a long time.

'I-I-I said I loved him!' She mumbled finally. I blinked.

'And what did he say?'

'I don't know!' She wailed. 'I fucking ran away before he could, didn't I.'

'So you've been avoiding him because you don't know what his reply is?' I asked. Marlene nodded. 'That's it? Come on, Marls!' I indicated to the whole of her. 'Who are you? What happened to the Marlene who didn't care what people thought? So what if he doesn't feel the same way? You know how you feel and that's not something you can control.'

'But I don't think I can face him ever again if he says no.'

'Well, you're never going to find out his answer if you keep hiding from him.'

'But-'

'Marls, you're one of the toughest people I've ever met. If he says no then you'll get over it. It might take years but I'll be there for you. Mary will be there and so will Alice. You're not alone.'

'It's not a fucking crush though. I've had crushes before and this is completely fucking different.'

'If it's love then that'll go away in the end. If it stays unrequited it'll leave eventually whether that's what it feels like or not.'

'No it doesn't.' Marlene mumbled.

'How would you know, Marls? As far as I'm aware you've never been in love before this.'

'Well, I am now.' She snapped. 'And it fucking sucks.'

'But it'll feel great once you find out Kieran's answer.' I said encouragingly.

'No, it won't!'

'I think we should go find Kieran and find out.' I said clapping my hands together.

'No!' Marlene cried weakly.

'Marls, this will give you a final answer of his feelings and then we can deal with the situation from there.' I squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. Begrudgingly, Marlene followed me and the two of us headed to Gryffindor Tower where, as I had expected, Kieran was. Gently, I nudged Marlene in his direction and the two stood face to face for a moment just staring at each other. Seconds ticked by. Then, Kieran grabbed Marlene and kissed her.

Well, that sorted that out.

* * *

My mates and I were walking in the direction of our DADA classroom. I walked next to James thinking about my stomach. It had bloated overnight and I had measured it to be exactly 2 cm bigger than before. That depressing fact had led to a generally bad day as I silently hated on my period giving my face an extremely disgruntled look. As we walked, a cramp decided to join in on the fun so I stopped abruptly. James, noticing I was no longer next to him, walked back to join me.

'Lils? You okay?' He asked concernedly.

'Hold my bag for a moment, would you?' I asked wincing as I dumped my school bag in James' arms. Then I fumbled around searching for a heating pad and my painkiller. I found both but refrained from doing a victory dance as my cramp lazily spread to take up a larger area. I began rolling up the bottom of my school blouse and jumper. James went slightly pink but I ignored his reaction. I wrapped the heating pad around my stomach and then rolled down my blouse and jumper again. Taking my bag back from James I thanked him. 'Thanks. You don't have to look so embarrassed, you know. It was just my stomach.'

'Haha.' James replied turning a little pinker. 'Is your stomach alright? I mean, if you had to put a bandage on it, it must have been pretty bad…' I laughed and then winced regretfully.

'I have cramp so I put on a heating pad. Wouldn't want it to get any worse.' James turned scarlet.

'C-cramps?' He said weakly. 'Y-y-you have that minstrel cycle thing, don't you?'

'Oh grow up James!' I said jovially and elbowing him. 'And it's the menstrual cycle.'

'Right.' He paused for a moment. 'Want some chocolate?'

'I'll get some at lunch. Marls always has loads under her bed and if she doesn't Remus definitely will.' James conjured a large bar of chocolate.

'Help yourself.' He said grinning as we reached our classroom. I smiled up at him. That boy really knew me too well.

'Thanks.' I answered and broke off a piece. Popping it in my mouth I smiled. 'Mmmm… Chilli-chocolate; my favourite…'

'HA!' Remus yelled loudly from behind me causing James and I to jump quite spectacularly. 'Take that Wormtail!' Peter looked disgruntled for a moment before reluctantly agreeing chilli-chocolate wasn't an abomination of flavours. We took our normal seats and Thornton arrived.

'Right class.' Thornton began, rolling up his shirt sleeves as he spoke. 'Today's lesson is going to be on Inferi. How to identify them and how to deal with them. We'll start with theory so wands away for the first bit of the lesson. Now can anyone tell me the difference between humans and Inferi?'

'One looks like Sirius in the mornings and the other doesn't.' James said with a loud yawn from behind me. I smiled into my lap.

'I resent that Potter.' Sirius muttered. Thornton didn't look impressed.

'My policy of not being harsh about people's answers do not stretch to you Mr Potter. Such stupid answers are not tolerated in my classroom.' Thornton snapped. 'Perhaps you can save your witty responses for all the non-existant females queueing up to hear them.'

'Ooooh.' I whispered to Marlene who snickered. 'Nice burn.' Unfortunately, James heard and hit me on the head with his DADA textbook when Thornton had turned away. 'Hey!' I grumbled rubbing my head.

'Miss Evans,' Thornton said smoothly. 'I'm sure you can give a much better answer to my question.'

'An Inferi is a dead corpse bewitched to do the biding of an evil wizard or witch. Humans however are usually accountable for their actions unless of course they are intoxicated or under the Imperious curse or something similar. Moreover, Inferi will still have the appearance of a cadaver whereas a human is unlikely to look deceased.'

'A perfect answer, Miss Evans.' Thornton winked at me and I shrank into my seat as almost all the girls in the class giggled. Death was the only suitable option for me.

'A perfect answer.' James mimicked from behind me. 'Mine was way better and it was funny.' I discreetly directed my wand at James and sent a jet of water directly into his face. 'Ahhhh!' He cried. The Girls and I snorted as Thornton ignored James who was now being hit by jets of water from all directions. I loved the Founder's Library.

'If we could all take out our quills and parchment for note taking.' Thornton continued as though James wasn't being attacked by water. 'Finite Incantatum.' He added lazily as he flicked his wand and the water stopped squirting James.

For the next half an hour we took notes before splitting into pairs to practice fire conjuring spells. I turned to partner Marlene but was dragged away by a disgruntled James.

'Thanks for that, Lils!' James grumbled.

'I don't know what you mean.' I responded innocently.

'You know exactly what I mean.' He wagged his finger at me causing me to roll my eyes.

'You deserved it.' I answered evenly. James huffed and I laughed before conjuring some bluebell flames.

'Excellent, Miss Evans!' Thornton called from the front of the classroom and did another roguish wink. Once again death came to me as the only option.

'Get a room!' I heard James mumbled and I whacked him on the head.

'Don't even joke about that!' I moaned and tugged at my plait.

'By the way, did I tell you you're invited for Christmas?'

'No, you didn't.'

'Well, I've told you now. And you haven't got a choice in the matter. You're staying with me if you like it or not. I'll force you if you don't say yes.' James pouted making him look adorable.

'Doesn't that count as kidnap?' I questioned warily.

'I wouldn't call it that.' He answered with an evil grin. Raising my hands in mock surrender I turned my gaze to the flames sitting merrily on the desk in front of us.

* * *

At 10 to 7 I reluctantly headed to my DADA classroom for tutoring with Thornton. When I entered Thornton grinned at me from behind a stack of parchment and I moved towards his desk.

'Miss Evans, I'll be done with these papers in a minute and then we can begin. I'm sure you can take this time to prepare.' Thornton returned his gaze to his work and I put my bag down. Pulling off my black school robes to reveal the school uniform I wore beneath I suddenly got the feeling that someone was watching me. Subtly, I looked behind me but Thornton was entirely absorbed in his papers. I pulled my school jumper off and bent down to fold it neatly on top of my school bag. Almost instantly, I straightened up with that same feeling of unease. And yet there was only Thornton and I in the room and he was engrossed in his paperwork.

I sat myself on one of the desks and fiddled with my wand while I waited for Thornton to finish. Eventually, he got up from behind his desk.

'Right, duel stance please, Miss Evans.' I obliged. 'It's almost there. Almost perfect but this leg,' He poked my left leg. 'still needs to move a little. Remember it's your pivot and that means you've got to rotate with it easily. Allow me.' Thornton knelt down and began shifting my leg. After a few seconds he stopped but did not release his grip on my left leg. I glanced down and saw him looking up my skirt. Okay…I needed to stay calm. I could just pull my leg away and then leave the room. Easy. It was going to be fine.

A smirk slithered onto his face that made my heart leap with fear. While one of his hands still held my ankle the other began to crawl up my leg. Calm, Lily. Calm.

It reached the top of my tights and began to tug at them with the intent of pulling them down. My breathing increased ten-fold and panic flooded through me. It coursed through me and I knew I needed to get away. Far away.

Wrenching my foot out of his grasp I stepped back and stared coldly at my DADA teacher.

'I suggest you learn what is appropriate as a teacher and what isn't.' I said icily. 'A small piece of advice however, would be not to look up the skirts of your students.' Gathering up my things, I made my way across the room. Before I left, I turned to him. 'Our tutoring sessions are discontinued, I presume.' I fixed him with a disgusted gaze that looked braver than I felt and hurried away.

I wasn't sure where to go so I headed for Gryffindor tower hoping for some solitude in my dormitory. The dormitory was empty and I rushed into the shower. Scrubbing myself furiously, I blinked back tears. My skin soon protested as it became red raw but I still felt dirty so I continued with my ruthless cleaning. Eventually, I had to give in and stop but I made sure to dry myself as vigorously as I could. Changing into a clean pair of pyjamas I slid into bed hoping sleep would whisk me away. It did not however, and by the time Alice and Marlene had gone to bed and fallen asleep I was still awake and staring at the canopy of my four-poster.

The dormitory was silent. Mary, who's snores used to fill the room, now had her own room with Andrew and Oliver so the only noise came from Alice when she sporadically mumbled something or Marlene who grunted on occasion. I shifted beneath my covers and closed my eyes.

'She is weak isn't she.' A voice hissed in the back of my brain. Rowle's leering face swam into view and I shook my head trying to move him out. 'Look at your weak little mudblood.'

'No!' I mumbled and my head began to ache as Thornton's unnerving smile floated across my vision. I could feel his grip on my leg and I jerked it trying to get him off. The feeling of a hand crawling up my leg came made me squirm. 'No!' I mumbled again. 'I don't like it. Get off…'

'Crucio Potter.' Rowle's harsh voice seemed to cut right through me. Thornton still held me and as I struggled to get free I heard a scream. I tried to help whoever it was but my body felt like lead. It was pulling me down down and-

'Lily! Lily! Wake up!' Someone shook me. I opened my eyes and saw Marlene hovering over me. Behind her Alice stood watching me with concern.

'I- what?' I looked at the two of them a little disorientated as I sat up.

'You had a nightmare.' Alice said softly. 'We heard you thrashing around in your sleep and then you kept mumbling something.'

'Oh.' I mumbled.

'You can tell us, you know.' Marlene said sitting down next to me.

'It was nothing.' I dismissed hurriedly.

'Fine. Don't tell us anything.' An evil grin slid on to Marlene's face. 'We'll just go tell Potter you were mumbling "I love James" in your sleep, shall we?' I raised my eyebrow at Marlene's smug face.

'Oh shut up, Marls.' Alice grumbled and sat down on the other side of me. 'Don't worry, Lily. You didn't say anything of the sort.' I rolled my eyes at the two of them.

'I'm fine.' I said firmly. 'You two can go back to bed.'

'You'd tell us if something was wrong, wouldn't you Lily?' Alice asked with concerned eyes. 'We're not here just to look pretty, you know.'

'Well, I don't know about Marls…Ow!' Marlene whacked my arm.

'Night then.' Alice sighed and Marlene begrudgingly got off my bed. The two of them went off to their respective beds and silence fell upon the room once more.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. It wasn't the best one if written but hopefully it wasn't bad. Next up's Christmas at the Potter's.**

 **Please review :)**


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

 **A/N: It's Christmas in Jily land. Not in reality though… Oh well. We'll just live through the characters! Hehehe. I'm so sad.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The journey to Kings Cross was a reflection of how much sleep I had been getting over the past few days. I couldn't stop yawning on my patrol of the train with Remus and when we returned to our compartment I was struggling to keep my eyes opened. However, the prospect of sleep wasn't welcoming as every time I closed my eyes for longer than a few seconds _his_ face would swim into my brain. It was _his_ face that haunted my dreams and it was _his_ hand that seemed grab my ankle every time I fell asleep. Dreamless sleep potion was the only thing that let me sleep but somehow my mind seemed to overpower it after a few hours and I would be jerked into instant wakefulness.

Luckily, no one noticed this as they were all watching Sirius re-enact his most recent detention with Professor McGonagall after he'd forgotten his homework and tried to flirt his way out of trouble. James was imitating Professor McGonagall as Sirius played himself but I was too tired to scold them for their disrespect of one of my favourite Professors. As their performance came to a close and Remus and Peter began applauding them while Sirius bowed extravagantly, James sat down next to me. My eyelids were threatening to droop but I forced myself to resist the temptation.

'You alright, Lils? You look awful.' He asked concernedly to which I raised my eyebrow.

'Wow, James. You sure know how to compliment a girl.' I grinned tiredly. 'I can see exactly why you haven't had a girlfriend since…how long's it been...since 3rd year?'

'Haha.' Came his response. 'You should be grateful I save all my compliments just for you, Lilykins.' He ruffled my hair affectionately and I stuck out my tongue.

'James! You're pulling out my plait!' I grumbled as tendrils of my red hair began falling out. Hurriedly I pulled the rest of my plait out and began redoing it hastily.

'Leave it.' James said softly putting a hand on mine to stop me braiding. 'It looks fine like that.'

'Are you saying my braid looks bad?' I asked with mock hurt and James rolled his eyes. I yawned widely.

'That's the 20th time you've yawned this journey. Get some sleep, Lils. We've still got an hour left at least.'

'I don't nee-'

'Sleep!' James commanded. 'Now!'

'But there's nowhere to rest my head.' I argued lamely.

'Then lean on my shoulder.' He sighed in exasperation and I knew I had no choice but to do as he said.

'Fine.' I rested my head on him but did not close my eyes. I would not fall asleep. _His_ face was already waiting to make an entrance – I could feel it. James, evidently under the impression I was falling asleep, shushed the others.

'Lils is trying to sleep.' He whispered. 'Don't look at me like that Pads.'

'You would get everyone to shut up if I was trying to sleep.' Sirius grumbled. 'No, you'd start singing or something.' But all of them grew quiet and engaged in a low volume debate about Quidditch. I felt James shift slightly and put his arm around me in a protective manner. Slowly my eyes shut and my tired brain began to lull me into a deep sleep.

 **James' POV:**

While the others debated whether the Foulmouth Falcons or Puddlemere United were better, I sat with my eyes on Lily. She slept peaceably and snuggled into my protective hold. On one occasion, I had removed the arm I had around her to open a chocolate frog packet and she'd started shaking. Looking closely, I noticed she was mumbling and by straining my ears I heard her.

'Weak mudblood.' She muttered and squirmed as though something was on her leg and she wanted to remove it. 'No.' Lily shivered again. 'No! I don't like it.' She whispered like a pathetic child.

'Lils…' I murmured softly and put my arm around her again. Almost instantly, her shivering ceased but she remained tense. 'It's okay.' I reassured her sleeping form. 'I'm right here.' I held her closer to me as if trying to shield her from her own subconscious.

 **Back to Lily's POV:**

When I awoke an hour after falling asleep I felt refreshed although I had definitely still dreamt of _him_. I hurriedly plaited my hair once more and attempted to straighten my clothes so I didn't look like I'd just woken up. The train had just arrived at platform 9 and ¾ so we all collected our things, James had taken a few attempts to persuade that I could pull my own trunk, and left the train. It was then that we wished each other a happy Christmas and went our respective ways. Sirius, James and I headed for where Mrs Potter stood waiting for us. She smiled at all three of us.

'Hello you three.' She greeted warmly. 'Honestly, boys you've grown at least another few inches since I last saw you!'

'Mum we're fine.' Sirius groaned while James rolled his eyes.

'Lily'll agree with me.' Mrs Potter winked at me as the two boys fixed me with pleading gazes. An evil smile slid on to my face.

'Definitely. They're absolute giants.'

'Noooooooooooooooooooooo!' Sirius howled and James groaned.

'Lils! Why'd you do that? We're going to have to sit through hours of fittings now!' James complained.

'Lily, dear, I have a feeling we're going to get along perfectly.' Mrs Potter beamed at me and we headed out of the station followed by the two boys who were grumbling behind us. We turned into a side street and once we were sure there was no one around did side-along apparition. James, Sirius and I, although we were learning at school how to, could not apparate and were therefore had to hold tightly onto one another and rely on Mrs Potter to pull us through the non-being.

* * *

My first few days at the Potter residence had passed quickly with a buzz of activity. Preparations for the Potter's infamous Christmas Party were well underway and I had been trying help in any way I could. I had spent a lot of my time helping Mrs Potter organise the seating arrangements and decorating the rooms. In my free time, I would mess around with Sirius and James outside in the snow and often in the evenings I would explain Muggle items to Mr Potter with James listening avidly and Sirius playing cards with Mrs Potter in the background. At other moments, I would help the boys with their homework, having already done my own, in particular their Muggle Studies work. Sirius had been set, alongside everyone in the class sans James, Muggle money questions. He was struggling greatly and I had been appalled to find out their teacher hadn't told them how but rather told them to look in their textbooks. Having grown up in the bakery I had extremely good addition, subtraction, multiplying and dividing skills. Working behind the till required those skills and had led to a passion for maths. The school library contained a section of Muggle textbooks which I had read and taught myself advanced mathematics. Arithmancy or the mathematics or magic as my teacher liked to call it was a subject I found incredibly interesting and had also helped my mathematical skill.

James had been set a different assignment, much to his disgust, because according to his teacher he was showing a deeper interest in the workings of the Muggle world. This had apparently come about due to the activities he had partaken in whilst staying at mine. Visiting a mill and working in a shop had given him a very different experience to that of his classmates. Their list of activities had included visiting the cinema and using the Tube but James' weren't like that which his teacher had taken to be his enthusiasm for the subject. It was true that James found Muggles interesting, a fact I found hilarious, but he had now been laden with an essay to write about the English Muggle education system. I was helping him but he was finding the concept of either going to college, sixth form or doing an apprenticeship after completing O levels confusing.

During my time at the Potter's so far, I had also attended a fitting. James and Sirius had been having new robes fitted when Mrs Potter decided she wanted to buy me a new set of dress robes for the Party. I tried to dissuade her but she would not have her mind-set altered so I gave in and let her find some. She'd been delighted because she'd 'never been able to dress James' and now she could do it with me. Nobody except Mrs Potter, the shop assistant and I had seen the dress robes because Mrs Potter wanted it to be a surprise.

* * *

The day of the Christmas Party dawned and breakfast was a merry affair because Mr Potter only had a few hours before he would be allowed to end what he called his 'house arrest' and everyone else called 'bedrest'. Around lunchtime, I was ushered upstairs to my room to get ready for the party by an excited looking Mrs Potter. James and Sirius laughed at me as I was chivvied out of the kitchen but I glowered at them causing them to cease immediately.

One of the House Elves, Layla, washed my hair and dried it before beginning to arrange it. The arranging of hair took so long I was tempted to shave all my hair off but Layla finished before I was forced to resort to desperate measures. Then it was time for my makeup and an hour later my dark-red-lipped self was helped into the dress robes chosen by Mrs Potter. She came in again at that moment in a stunning red set of robes that seemed to shimmer as she walked. He dark brown hair was tied in an elegant knot at the back of her head. Wow.

'You look beautiful Lily.' She smiled affectionately.

'You too Mrs Potter.' I answered and she steered me towards a full-length mirror.

'Now you can see what the whole world sees.' I stared at my reflection. The dress I wore was a dark emerald and in an off the shoulder mermaid shape. The material was lace and flowed to the floor in a train. My hair had been tied in a braid, at my request, but the braid seemed to have small green gems and threads of silver woven into it that sparkled in the light. My mother's crucifix necklace sat as always around my neck and seemed to compliment the rest of the outfit as its diamonds glittered happily. Mum would had loved to see me in this. I remembered she'd often spoken of one day seeing Tuney and I in finery like this dress. Tears formed in my eyes as I realised she'd never seen either of us in something as special as this dress; not Tuney's wedding dress, not my bridesmaid dresses, nothing. 'Oh, Lily. Don't be sad! You look absolutely lovely.' Mrs Potter enveloped me in a hug as I tried very hard not to sob. 'What's wrong dear? You can tell me.'

'I-it's nothing.' I mumbled. 'It's just my mum never got to see me in anything like this. She always dreamed of it.'

'Well, I'm sure she'd have loved it.' She said kindly. I nodded and bowed my head as we pulled out of the hug.

'I'm sorry. I don't know why this dress is affecting me this much. I mean, I've worn stuff like this before. At Mary's wedding…'

'We'd better head down, dear.' She smiled. 'Thank you, Layla. That'll be everything. You go rest for a bit.' Mrs Potter turned to leave but stopped when she reached the door upon realising I wasn't following her. 'Lily dear?'

'D-d-d'you mind if I stay behind for a moment. I'll be down soon.'

'Of course.' She smiled once more. 'Take all the time you need.'

Once Mrs Potter had left the room I walked over to the window and looked out at the view. It was dark so I could see no further than the Potter's snow-covered lawn illuminated by the lights from the mansion. From what was illumined I saw the trail in the snow left by James as he had dragged the Christmas Tree into the house. I had asked if he wanted help but he'd flatly refused. Sirius, who was now of age, kept charming the tree to run away from James and I had almost pissed myself laughing at the sight of James chasing after the tree.

I smiled slightly at the image of James running across the lawn like a headless chicken when Sirius then bewitched the tree to chase him instead. Unwelcome, the image of my mum's childhood home in Seldeton sidled into my mind. My grandparents on her side still lived there – with Uncle George. I'd never considered them proper grandparents nor the ones on my dad's side as one set were dead and the other set would rather me be dead than exist. If I ever had kids I would be glad they'd have my dad as a grandpa. If my significant other's parents were anything like Mr and Mrs Potter I knew my kids would have the best grandparents ever. Well, I just had to find a future husband and make sure he had nice parents. Easy. Really easy.

I sighed and turned away from the window. Hiding from the party would not make it end any sooner. The prospect of people noticing me was not welcoming but then again, they most likely wouldn't. I wasn't really a noticeable person. I left the room and headed down the corridor and town the staircase into the Ballroom to find Sirius chatting with a group guests. He wolf-whistled upon seeing me and I rolled my eyes at him.

'Lily!' He greeted smoothly. 'You're just in time to meet the charming Molly Weasley, her handsome husband Arthur, their delightful offspring and the life of the party Bilius Weasley.' He gestured at the cluster of redheads who all grinned at me.

'It's nice to meet you.' I said politely.

'Aw! She's just as beautiful as James described.' Molly gushed and hugged me excitedly. I shook Arthur's hand and Bilius clapped me on the shoulder before dragging Sirius and Arthur off to 'leave the women to talk about womanly things'. 'I'll introduce you to my boys. This is Bill, he's my eldest.'

The tallest boy shook my hand with an air of trying to seem refined.

'I'm 6.'

'Quite the young man then.' I smiled at him and he positively glowed.

'This is my brother Charlie. He's 4.' Charlie too shook my hand but much more shyly than his elder brother.

'And this little man,' Molly said indicating into the pram next to her. 'is Percy. He's only a few months old.'

'One of my best friends has just had a baby. He's called Oliver.'

'Is that Andrew's wife?'

'Yes.'

'She's quite a dear, isn't she?' Molly smiled. 'Do you know if the Wood's are coming this evening?'

'I think so.'

'Excuse me, Miss Lily…' I turned in surprise to look at Bill. 'Would you like to dance with me?'

'With such a gentlemanly offer, I can't refuse.' I beamed down at him. 'I would be delighted. I'll be back in a minute.' I added to Molly who laughed at Bill taking my hand and leading me on to the middle of the Ballroom where there were already a few couples dancing. 'D'you want to stand on my feet?'

'Yes please.' Bill stepped cautiously on to my feet and the two of us revolved around the dance floor. The song was a beautiful waltz and I couldn't help but smile my way through the whole dance. While we danced, Bill chattered about this and that. 'And then I told Charlie that there was a troll under my bed and he hasn't stolen my chocolate since.'

'That was quite clever of you.' I said with a nod. 'I mean, I wouldn't have known to do that.'

'Really?'

'Really. In fact…I don't think any of the adults in here would have thought of that.' Bill grinned in delight.

'I love being the older brother. Charlie does everything I say. I can't wait for Percy to do the same.'

'As the younger sister in my house I-'

'You're a younger sister? But you look so old!'

'Now Bill, what have I said about calling beautiful ladies old?' An amused James said drawing up next to us as the dance ended. I wanted to snort with laughter right there and then but I kept a straight face.

'I-I didn't mean…I just…' Bill looked extremely embarrassed and I glowered at James who was smirking.

'It's fine, Bill. Don't listen to him.' I reassured the 6-year-old who looked at me anxiously. 'And you,' I said turning to James and jabbing my finger at his chest. 'should know better than to say stuff like that.'

'Yes, dear.' He answered with an eyeroll. 'Women.' He added to Bill with a shake of his head. I elbowed him in the arm.

'Come on Bill. Let's go back to your mum.' I took hold of the little boy's hand and led him back to Molly who was fussing over Charlie's dress robes. James followed us and grinned at Molly when she saw us.

'You two looked quite lovely.' She said with a smile to Bill and I.

'Bill's definitely a good dancer.'

'He is isn't he.' She answered fondly and straightened Bill's robes.

'Mum!' He cried embarrassed.

'Why don't you and Charlie run along and find the playroom? Ingrid told me you two could use it. Ask Sirius to show you and if he says no tell him I asked you to.' The two boys scurried off leaving just James and I with Molly. 'Have you seen Bilius, James?'

'Last time I saw him he was playing chess against Sirius. Don't worry Molly. He hasn't had anything to drink.' James assured her with a grin. I had a feeling I was missing something because at James' statement Molly looked extremely relieved. 'Yet.' I heard James add under his breath but I wasn't sure anyone was supposed to hear him. In any case, Molly heard nothing and excused herself to go and find Arthur pushing Percy in his pram in front of her.

'So…' I began awkwardly and James smirked.

'You look great by the way.'

'You're not so bad yourself. You scrub up well, Mr Potter.'

'Why thank you, Miss Evans. I-'

'Jamesie!' A voice cut in delightedly. James' face immediately turned sour as the new arrival joined our conversation. The new comer had jet black hair, just like James did, which was slicked back in a fashionable style. They had tanned skin and bluey-grey eyes. They were…Daniel Stromdale! The lead singer of the Golden Snidgets was standing right in front of me. 'You didn't tell me you had such a beautiful friend.' He raised my hand to his lips and I forced myself to smile in a vaguely friendly manner.

'Hello Dan.' James acknowledged stiffly.

'And your friend is?' He prompted. I shuffled uncomfortably.

'Lils this is my cousin Daniel Stomdale. Dan this is Lily.'

'A pleasure to meet you, Lily. If you're wondering, I am indeed the lead singer of-'

'The Golden Snidgets. Yes, we know.' James snapped irritably.

'Don't mind him, Lily. He's just bitter he's not as handsome as me. Jealous of my musical ability as well no doubt.' Daniel-Daniel Stromdale-Mr Stomdale? winked at me and I thought for a split-second I heard James growl.

'Well it was lovely to meet you but I promised James a dance and I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to move around in these shoes so…' I trailed off and James immediately led me to the dance floor. We began to waltz around the room as a new tune struck up. 'I thought for second back there that there was a bear talking with your cousin and I but when I looked it was just you.'

'He pisses me off is all.'

'I gathered that by your expression. Asking you whether you'd eaten 50 lemons was a very tempting question.'

'He doesn't ever shut up about how good he is at stuff.'

'That reminds me of someone I know. I can't think for the life of me what he's called. He's got black hair that's always messy, glasses and the look of someone who eats lots of lemons. D'you know him?'

'Watch it you! You want to be careful. I can be very good at stepping on toes when I want to.'

'And there I was think I was dancing with a gentleman.'

At 11.30 people began making their way away from the buffet table or the Ballroom and into the garden for the firework display that would welcome Christmas Day. I stood with James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Mary, Oliver, Andrew, Marlene, Kieran, Alice and Frank watching as Mr Potter and Mr Wood (Andrew's father) set up the fireworks. Eventually, the two men had finished and the display began. Swirls of colour burst into the sky and illuminated all the guests below them. The air was filled with crackles and bangs as the fireworks exploded above us. I laughed in delight and glanced to my side to see James watching me with a lopsided grin.

'Happy Christmas, James.' I said softly looking up at him.

'Happy Christmas, Lils.'

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. Our characters are back to school again next chapter. Yay school!**

 **Please review :)**


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

 **A/N: Welcome to this chapter! The holidays are at an end once more and our characters are returning to school.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

It was Second Breakfast and as I sipped my water I found my gaze drifting to James. He was sat a few seats down from me eating his cereal whilst listening to Sirius, who was gesturing widely, with interest. His forehead creased in a slight frown as Sirius' speech came to an end and leaned forward to mutter something to him. I often wondered what the boys were talking about but having known them since first year I knew better than to ask them about it. There's was no denying however, that at times they were a complete mystery to me. Their nicknames for starters made no sense to me, except Mooney, and another even bigger mystery was how James, Sirius and Peter managed to be around Remus during the full moon. Of course, with the Wolfsbane potion that was incredibly easy but before that…

In the book I had read from the Founder's Library written by a German Wizard trying to help his brother who was a werewolf I had found several suggestions but none of which I could imagine the boys doing. One idea I had come across was a song that when sung to a werewolf in wolf form they would do whatever you told it to.

Mooney…was Remus' nickname because he was a werewolf.  
Prongs…that was because…because James liked forks. Obviously. And that's how he flew so quickly during Quidditch matches. Someone poked him in the bum with fork prongs just before he kicked off the ground and that was he got the speed instantly. Made total sense.  
Wormtail…Did Peter have a wart or something on him that looked like a tail. And the others nicknamed him for it. That was horrible! I'd have to ask him about that. I could probably fix it for him if he still had it.  
And Padfoot…What that fuck did that mean? Was Sirius secretly a masseuse? A smile slid on to my face. Well, James did like spa days.

 **James POV:**

Mooney and Wormtail sat down by Pads and I. Immediately, conversation turned extremely energetic but I found myself tuning out and moving my gaze down the table to see if I could see a certain red-head. My eyes found her quickly and my heart leapt a little when I noticed she was looking at me. Her gaze was a little out of focus in a way that only occurred in Lily's beautiful emerald eyes – a mixture of trying to make sense of a situation and being completely unaware of majority of her surroundings. I had a feeling she didn't realise I'd noticed her staring. As if to add to this an absentminded smile slid on to her features. I found a smile shifting onto my own face as I watched her. Suddenly, she became aware of me and her smile turned awkward as a pink tinge formed on her cheeks. My smile turned into a full-on smirk and her face flushed positively beetroot as she glowered at me. I laughed loudly and she folded her arms in irritation. Her face remained a stubborn scarlet.

'Prongsie,' Padfoot's voice began in a very sing-song tone. 'We all know you're in love with Lily but d'you think you can pay a bit more attention?' My smirk changed instantly to a sour look that could easily rival Lily's.

 **Back to Lily's POV:**

I was absolutely mortified by the fact that James had caught me staring. I mean, I must have looked extremely creepy and by the look on the faces of the Girls, who were sitting around me, they had seen me do so. Luckily, Andrew came over holding a squirming Oliver alongside Kieran and Frank. This distraction enabled me to hurry off to my first lesson of the day before they could take the piss of me. It was only when I arrived outside the classroom and saw my teacher sitting behind their desk that I realised I had Defence Against the Dark Arts with _him_. I was alone with Thornton and there was still a few minutes before the bell to signal first period.

He looked up from whatever he had been preoccupied with before at the sound of my footsteps and a twisted smile slid on to his face.

'Miss Evans.' Thornton greeted. With a flick of his wand I was pushed forward into the classroom as the door slammed behind me. I heard a click as the door locked itself. My heart began pounding fearfully as I pulled my wand out from behind my ear and backed slowly against the wall.

'Stay away from me.' I spat trying to sound braver than I felt and pointed my wand at him.

'You want to be careful, Miss Evans. I am your teacher after all.' He moved a little forwards with his wand ready to attack.

'Teacher?' I laughed coldly as I grew a little in confidence. 'One step nearer and I'll tell Professor McGonagall what you did!'

'Perhaps we should play the _Who Would You Believe_ game. You're a 16-year-old student who hangs around with some of the most infamous Hogwarts miscreants ever. Not to mention, every single attack victim so far has been discovered by you. It doesn't bode well and many members of staff are a little suspicious already.'

'Don't you for one second suggest that. Mary's one of my best mates!'

'Well, it would be my word against yours. I'm a well-respected member of staff and if I so much as suggested your involvement in the attacks you'd be out of here by the morning so perhaps you want to be careful.' My entire body shook, all confidence gone, as he moved so close to me we were almost nose to nose.

'Y-You…'

'So perhaps you want to be careful with what information you're threatening to share.' The bell rang and he stepped back as I lowered my wand. He opened the classroom door and I moved into my usual seat as the rest of the class slowly filed in.

* * *

That night I made my way from the library to the Defence classroom and hummed some Elton John as I walked. As I neared the classroom I braced myself. I would talk to Thornton and show him that I wasn't scared of him. I would show him that I was the one in control and I was the one who could get rid of him. He wouldn't bully me. I'd told my friends that I'd been struggling with my Defence homework and that my past essays had all been Ds so that I had a reason to go see him. It was then that I became aware of movement behind the classroom door. I strained my ears and heard a female's voice.

'Get off me!' She begged.

'Quiet!' Snapped an eerily familiar voice that made me jump in fear. Thornton. 'You want to do this remember? I'll get you kicked out of Hogwarts if you don't.' I fell back in shock and my legs landed in a really awkward position that caused me to bite the insides of my cheeks to prevent any noise escaping me. Gingerly, I shifted my positioning and accidently wacked my neck my neck on a suit of armour that stood on the wall. The clanging and crashing that resonated from the falling pieces of metal could have been enough to alert everyone for miles around. The classroom door opened and my heart began pounding fearfully. 'Miss Evans,' Thornton said adjusting his trousers.

'Professor.' I said coldly.

'You remember what I said earlier, I assume.' He sneered at me as I nodded getting to my feet. That fall would hurt in the morning. 'Well, then I'm sure you'll have no issue with me tutoring Miss Harper on Monday evenings.'

'Of course not,' I whispered. 'Professor.' I added as an afterthought.

'Very good, Miss Evans.' Thornton said with a twisted smile. 'We're learning to keep our mouths shut, aren't we?' I nodded and hurried off.

As I turned the corner of the corridor, I stopped and breathed in deeply. I had to do something to help that girl with Thornton but I couldn't. If I did tell anyone, Thornton would make sure I was expelled and the girl would probably be expelled as well. Shit.

* * *

The next morning, I hobbled into the bathroom with my legs screaming in protest. The cool water that gushed out of the tap was welcome on my face and once I'd washed it I changed into my uniform. Looking at myself in the mirror I noticed a hideous purple bruise on my neck. Tilting myself so I could see it better I pulled out my wand to heal it.

'This is one shit situation you're in Lily.' I said with a voice that sounded like I had a bad head cold. Shrugging on my black robes I headed out of the bathroom and made my way down to the Great Hall. I ate my breakfast in a position that didn't cause excruciating pain in my legs trying not to draw attention to myself. When _he_ sat down at the staff table my body began to tremble and I suddenly didn't feel like eating any more. Gingerly, I got out of my seat and shuffled out of the Hall as quickly as I could. I was in such a rush to leave that I bumped into someone on my way out. My on-edge body sprung back about a foot and I had to clamp my hand over my mouth so I didn't let out a small scream. It was about a minute later that I realised it was James who had knocked into me.

'Whoops!' He said thumping me on the back. I forced a smile before continuing out of the Hall. As I left I felt James' eyes on the back of my head.

* * *

The rest of the day past quite peaceably with only a few winces from myself when seating myself or standing up. We had Transfiguration last and as we filed into our seats I noticed a pile of small hand mirrors on Professor McGonagall's desk. Evidently, we were doing human transfiguration today.

'Good afternoon class. As I'm sure some of you have guessed, today we will be beginning to embark on human transfiguration. This branch of magic is extremely difficult and should anyone mess around you will be out of this room before you can say transfiguration.' She looked over at the Marauders sternly and I chuckled to myself as I heard Sirius' indignant gasp. 'Today, we will simply be trying to turn our eyebrows different colours. The incantation is on page 234 in your textbooks. Please take note of the correct wand movements and should you have any queries do not hesitate to raise your hand.'

And with that the bubble of talk broke out over the class as everyone began the task in hand. I was sat next to Mary and the two of us sat in front of Marlene and Alice. Mary had started attending two lessons a day since Christmas but still spent the rest of her time looking after Oliver; when she was in classes a House Elf would look after Oliver. The both of us turned around to chat.

'Guess what.' Mary began and I groaned as I knew already we were entering into gossiping territory. 'Harriet Ross w-'

'What the fuck's that slag done now?' Marlene cut in a little too eagerly. 'Honestly, she doesn't seem to get the fact that Kieran isn't in to her any more. The amount fucking of times that whore still tries to tell me my relationship with Kieran won't last because he wants her back is ridiculous.'

'Careful my dear.' I said glancing in my mirror as I transfigured my eyebrows to a dark emerald green. 'That almost sounded bitter.'

'Oh you're so fucking funny!' Marlene snapped and glowered in my direction. I shrugged my shoulders as Mary gave a loud theatrical sigh.

'Can we go back to what I was saying? Please?'

'Here, here.' Alice agreed looking with anticipation at Mary as though the knowledge of the latest gossip was the greatest information that could ever be bestowed on her.

'Thank you, babes.' Mary beamed at Alice. 'As I was saying, Harriet Ross was found in a broom cupboard with Patrick Harris yesterday!' Mary, Alice and I all turned to look at Marlene.

'WHAT?' Marlene shouted so loudly that the rest of the class and Professor McGonagall to look over at the four of us.

'Miss Young! Please keep your voice to an appropriate volume!' Professor McGonagall reprimanded. James caught my eye and raised a blue coloured eyebrow in Marlene's direction. I smirked at the colour of his eyebrow but then stopped when I remembered my own eyebrows were green.

'Sorry, Professor.' The Girls and I chorused.

'So Marls…Not cross about the whole Ross/Harris thing are we?' I asked trying to hide my smile.

'I'm fine.' Marlene responded. Alice snorted quietly and Mary hid her face behind her mirror. 'I'm with Kieran now…Why should I care?'

'Alright Evans?' A voice asked smoothly from next to the four of us. We all looked up at James and Sirius standing before us.

'Back to surnames, Ja-Potter?' I asked confused.

'Can I just say you look absolutely ravishing today. Your eyebrows match the colour of your eyes quite exquisitely.'

'I'm afraid I can't say the same for your turquoise transfiguration.' I turned to Sirius. 'Did something happen to him?' He snorted as I indicated at a smirking James. Slowly I returned my gaze to the smug looking boy. 'What d'you want, James?'

'What do I want? Well the possibilities are endless but at this moment in time? I was wondering since when you were i-'

'MARY!' Marlene bellowed and jabbed her wand aggressively. The spell missed Mary and hit me instead. Instantly, my face began to swell.

'Miss Young!' Professor McGonagall cried.

'Fuck you, Mary! Fuck you!' She yelled and stormed out of the classroom. I stared in bewilderment after her and removed the swelling jinx before turning to Mary. 'What did you do?'

'Nothing!' I raised an eyebrow. 'Fine! I may have said she still liked Patrick and-' I held up my hand to halt her.

'Professor, may I go after her please?' I asked.

'Of course. But I would prefer the two of you to return to my classroom at break.' I thanked her and packed up my things. With a quick spell, I shut James' gawping mouth and hurried out after Marlene wondering where on earth she could have gone. My first guess was correct and I found her in the nearest set of girl's loos. Upon catching a sight of myself in one of the mirrors, I corrected my dark green eyebrows back to their original colour.

'Marls?' I asked softly into the room. I heard sobbing in the end cubicle and moved swiftly over to it before gently pushing it open. Marlene sat on the floor of the cubicle with her head buried in her knees crying her heart out. For someone usually so tough, it was strange how vulnerable she could look. 'You can tell me, Marls.' She continued to wail. 'It'll be alright…We'll work something out; we always do…'

'I'm a slag!' She spat.

'I'm sure that's not true.' I said soothingly sitting down next to her.

'Yes it is! I snogged Patrick! Last night!' Marlene blew her nose loudly on a tissue I conjured. I leaned my head against the wall of the cubicle and frowned at her.

'I don't understand…Why would you…'

'He was helping me look for you last night and then we were talking and all of a sudden he snogs me.'

'And did you snog him back?' Marlene remained silent. 'You did!' I closed my eyes. 'I swear, Marls, I don't get you sometimes. Just before Christmas you were freaking out about Kieran's reaction to you telling him you loved him and now you're snogging your ex. I don't get it. Was that why you were scared about Kieran's feelings for you? You weren't sure you meant what you said?'

'No… If anything last night proved that.'

'So snogging Patrick was a test? A test to see if you are actually in love with Kieran?' I looked at Marlene with despair as she leaned against the wall as well.

'No… It just happened…'

'Then you have to explain yourself because you can't keep doing this to Kieran! Or to yourself, for that matter.'

'I…I don't fucking know!' She ran an agitated hand through her hair. 'He just snogged me and I let him. I didn't feel a thing but I should've pushed him off.'

'And what happened after that?'

'Well, I kind of forgot I was looking for you and ran to Mary and Andrew's rooms as it was nearest and I told them. Andrew left to see if Ollie wanted anything but Mary stayed with me and laughed a bit. I guess it's quite a shit situation.'

'So the thing she said today was completely intentional to annoy you?' I asked already knowing the answer.

'Probably.'

'Well, don't be too hard on her. Mary's sense of humour's always been a bit different. Does Al know?'

'I don't think she does but Mary might tell her in explanation of my anger.' The two of us were silent staring at the opposite wall of the cubicle. There was a piece of graffiti on it of Professor Slughorn eating a slug. Not such a nice image. 'Kieran's going to hate me now.'

'You don't know that.' I said evenly.

'I fucking cheated on him. Anyone would hate me for that.' Marlene said incredulously. 'Everyone hates me for it and I-I hate me too…' She burst into a fresh flood of tears and I put my arm around her.

'I don't hate you.' I pointed out and squeezed her shoulder. Marlene continued to shake with sobs as I held her. 'Mary doesn't hate you. Andrew doesn't hate you and Al won't hate you when she finds out.'

'Y-y-yes but Kieran will!' She sobbed looking at me with swollen eyes. 'I l-love him a-a-and he's going to hate me if he f-f-f-finds out.'

'What d'you mean _if_? You have to tell him! If you don't tell him he'll find out eventually and it's best if he finds out from you.'

'I can't!' Marlene cried.

'Well, otherwise he'll find out from Patrick! D'you want him to find out that way? At least is he hears it from you you're being honest.'

'Patrick wouldn't tell.' Marlene wiped the tears from her face. 'He hooked up with Harriet Ross later that night anyway.'

'I'm guessing you didn't know that until Mary said so in Transfiguration.'

'No I didn't.' She answered crossly and glowered at the floor.

'Patrick will tell, Marls. He will. Tell Kieran yourself and everthing'll work out better than if he finds out from your ex-boyfriend.' I said firmly.

'I suppose you're right, Lily.' Marlene nodded slowly and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

'Why were you even with Patrick?' I asked curiously.

'I told you: he was helping me look for you.'

'Why were you looking for me?'

'Well, you went to the library at the same time as Quidditch training but when I got back from practice at 9 you weren't back. Al was already asleep so I went looking for you. I checked the library but you weren't there. I remembered you'd had an issue with the Defence homework so I checked our DADA classroom and it was empty so I checked Thornton's office. It was locked and when I knocked no one answered. I bumped into Patrick on my way back – he was heading to Thornton's office to hand in some work. I told him Thornton wasn't there when I'd been looking for you and then Patrick said he'd help.'

My heart began pounding a little faster. 9 pm. Half an hour previous to that I would have been walking past the DADA classroom. After rushing off, I'd been pacing in a secret passage trying to think of something to help the girl with Thornton. I'd had absolutely no ideas. If Marlene said that classroom was empty then they must have moved to his office.

'I was in the grounds.' I lied. 'By the lake.'

 **Marlene's POV:**

It was then that I knew Lily was lying. Lily never admitted to her night-time wanderings and would deny any mention of them. The fact that she had said she was by the lake meant I immediately knew that there was no truth in her words. I had known since first year that Lily wasn't alien to the idea of walking around the school at night as on many occasions I had woken at around 2 am in the morning to go to the bathroom and noticed Lily's empty bed. Where she went, I had no idea but I knew she left Gryffindor Tower.

Whenever anyone had a problem it was to Lily they went. She was the mother of our friendship group and always seemed have the answers. When the Marauders had had their rift at the start of 5th year it was to Lily they went. Remus, Potter and Pettigrew excluded Black and it was Lily who reconciled them. She was the one who went between all of them to try and solve their argument and she wore the biggest smile when they made up again. Every argument between the Girls and I was solved by Lily with her fair views and wish to see the best in everyone. But when Lily had a problem, who did she turn to?

No one was the most common answer. She was very good at hiding things she wanted unnoticed and when she'd lost lots of weight no one noticed until we were trying on dresses for Mary's wedding and when questioned about it her only remark was:  
'It's not as bad as it was.'  
When her relationship with Tom ended she only reluctantly admitted to Black that her feelings for him where going and didn't tell anyone they'd split up for ages. Potter found out eventually and the fact that the two had split up was the only thing anyone knew. Whether she was upset or not no one knew.  
The Incident at the end of 5th year was another example. That was the only time I had ever seen Lily look broken and still she let no one in. She acted almost as though nothing had happened except for her frequent vanishing to places where not even the Marauders could find her.

In the midst of my reverie I found that Lily and I were returning to class. The bell had gone a while a go so everyone was already at dinner when we reached our destination. McGonagall was waiting for us and I felt a sudden idea form in my head.

'Miss Evans, you may leave me with Miss Young if you wish.' I nodded at Lily who left shooting me with a sympathetic smile. 'Now, Miss Young, I think we ought to discuss your behaviour in today's lesson.' I bowed my head. 'I was absolutely appalled by your language in this classroom. Such words are not tolerated in my lessons. You are a sixth year and should know better than to use such terms in a classroom environment. The only reason you're not going to be punished is because Mrs Wood explained the situation to me. I understand you to be extremely stressed today and I will therefore allow you to leave this room with a warning.'

'Yes, Professor.'

'You are excused.' She dismissed me.

'Professor?' I asked cautiously.

'Yes, Miss Young? Is there anything else?'

'Yes, there's something I'd like to talk to you about.'

'Well, then you'd better enlighten me for I am none the wiser if you leave it at that.'

'It's about Lily…'

'About Miss Evans?'

'Yes, about Lily. Well, she was doing tutoring with Professor Thornton for a while until she suddenly stopped it before Christmas. She said that they'd agreed she was better off without the extra lessons now she was receiving more homework from other subjects and that was that. Then yesterday she told us that she was having an issue with one of her Defence essays and needed Professor Thornton's help on it. I asked why it had to be him and she said she'd been getting Ds in her last few pieces of work and wanted to fix that. So yesterday evening she went to the library and I went to Quidditch practice. When practice ended, I went back to the dormitory and saw Lily wasn't back yet. I remembered she'd told me she was going to ask Professor Thornton for help. I went to look for her and she wasn't in the DADA classroom and Professor Thornton's office was locked.'

'Did you look anywhere else?'

'I asked Potter if he'd seen her and he said he'd look as well. He didn't find her – he told me when I bumped into him in the common room after I gave up searching – and I visited Mary and she hadn't seen her. Alice was already asleep and I gave up. I heard Lily come back into the dormitory at around midnight and today she's been walking really weirdly. I grew suspicious so at break I went to the dormitory and looked through Lily's school files. She files all her work and I looked at all her DADA work. She hasn't had a grade lower than an E in all of her work.'

'And you wish to find out what's wrong but know she won't tell you?' McGonagall asked shrewdly. I nodded in response. 'Very well, Miss Young. I will see what I can do and in the meantime, don't let her know you have confided in me.'

'Thank you, Professor.' I said earnestly, glad she didn't think my suspicions stupid. The idea of asking McGonagall for help had been a good one.

 **Back to Lily's POV:**

I finished dinner quickly and returned to the dormitory as soon as I could. I sat on my bed completing my homework and as I wrote the conclusion to my last essay I heard an incessant scratching on the door. Listening closely to see if it wasn't my imagination, I wrote my final sentence and set down my stationery before hobbling over to the door. Opening it cautiously, I saw a silver tabby cat sitting on the landing of the staircase. I stared at the cat. It stared back.

'D'you want to come in here?' I asked stupidly. The cat fixed me with a gaze that could only be equated to a raised eyebrow. 'That was a stupid question, wasn't it?' If it was possible, the cat nodded and slunk past my legs into the dormitory. It settled itself on my bed and preened itself. I sat down next to it and watched as it licked its paws. Unsure of what to do, I fiddled with the hem of my school jumper's sleeve. At some point, I must have dozed off because the next time I opened my eyes daylight was pouring into the room and the cat was watching me its greenish eyes.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **This chapter took me ages to write and I have no idea why. I'm looking forward to next chapter however, and writing about our newly introduced cat.**

 **Were your feelings about Thornton correct?**

 **Please review :)**


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

 **A/N: I am soooo sorry this is late but I got home at 1 am this morning and then went straight to bed. I hope you like this chapter. If I named it I'd name it something about Lily's week with a cat but I don't name them so you don't have to cope with my awful naming skills.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The cat was still there when I returned from dinner on Wednesday evening. I had offered for it to leave on several occasions that morning all of which had been met by haughty looks from the silver tabby who seemed insistent on staying. Nevertheless, I had left the dormitory door ajar just in case the cat wanted to leave during the day. I had put up posters around the school with James to see if anyone was missing a cat at break and received no response. Then again, it had only been half a day so not many people would have seen the poster or realised if their pet was missing. James' strange behaviour in our last Transfiguration lesson was explained by him when the two of us had been putting up posters. Having not shown up to Second Breakfast yesterday meant I had missed the morning post. I had received a letter which James had later given to me. His question had been since when had his cousin and I been writing to each other as he recognised the handwriting on the address as that of Daniel Stromdale's. I'd told him that this was the first letter sent to me by his cousin to which he had visibly relaxed. Apparently, this should have explained to me why he'd been so weird. Everyone else had nodded in understanding when James had explained his behaviour again at dinner but I had remained in the dark.

The cat was sitting on my bed and hopped of it when I produced some food from my bag which I had smuggled from the dinner table for it. It devoured the food greedily and I watched it slightly enviously at the fact that it could stomach so much food so quickly. If I could eat that fast I wouldn't have to be in the same room as _him_ as long as I did during meals.

'Were you in here all day?' I asked it. The cat looked highly affronted that I had even dared suggest it was lazy. 'How was I to know? You were in that spot when I left this morning.' I lugged my bag over to my bed and winced slightly when I bent down to pick up a quill that dad fallen out. My legs had been in less pain today but still hurt when I moved my knees. Looking at the cat I noticed it was watching me piercingly. 'I hurt my legs.' I said by way of an explanation. As though the cat needed one.

I began my homework and on occasion glanced at the cat to see it watching me with the same shrewd expression. Could a cat be even be shrewd? The cat padded across my bed and stuck its head under my arm as though trying to see the parchment I was writing on.

'It's my Transfiguration essay.' I told the cat who seemed to be looking at it with interest. 'I'm writing about the benefits of performing human transfiguration.' The cat tilted its head and for a moment I wondered if it was reading the essay. Then I remembered cats couldn't read. 'I bet if you were human you'd be amazing at Transfiguration. Probably as good as Professor McGonagall. Then again, she's incredible at Transfiguration. I imagine it's hard to beat her level of magic.' The cat seemed sit a little straighter at my words. 'I reckon she and Professor Dumbledore are the dream team in duels.' I laughed a little at the image of the two professors standing back to back wearing superhero costume that skipped into my brain.

I returned to my essay and once it was finished I wondered how long it would be before Marlene and Alice returned to the dormitory. Alice was probably somewhere with Frank and Marlene was currently telling Kieran about the events of Monday night. Well, she was supposed to be anyway. I considered getting out Marlene's chocolate ready for when she returned either for the celebration of Kieran's response or to numb the pain of his reaction. I decided against it, thinking I would wait for her return. Despite the cat's presence, I felt lonely so I focused on a happy memory and conjured my patronus. The doe, I had decided to name it Themis after the Goddess of divine law and order, munched on some silvery grass that had appeared with it. The fact that it was there gave me the feeling of company but I glanced anxiously at the cat to see if it was scared. It wasn't.

'This is Themis.' I introduced my patronus to the cat. 'Themis this is…I don't know your name, do I?' I looked thoughtfully at the cat. 'I guess we can give you a temporary name - until we find you owner that is.' For a moment, I simply observed the cat but then I settled for a name. 'I think we'll stick with the Goddess names. D'you like Athena? I mean, she's the Goddess of wisdom and military victory. I reckon you're quite intelligent.' The cat, newly named Athena, showed no change in expression. 'I would've named you Minerva after the Roman Goddess of wisdom but my teacher's called that so it would be a bit weird if that was your name as well.'

Athena fixed me with a strange expression. I wondered if cats could look amused but I shook that thought from my head. Themis finished chewing her grass and laid her head on my arm as I returned to my homework. I couldn't feel her seeing as she was a patronus but I smiled nonetheless. An hour later and I had finished my essay. My attention had turned instead to reading my beloved copy of Pride & Prejudice with which I was completely absorbed until a loud thud made me look over at the floor. Athena had fallen off the bed whilst trying to prise my Transfiguration homework out of my bag. I laughed before hauling her back onto the bed. She looked extremely ruffled as I deposited her in front of the essay and returned to my book whilst Athena examined my work.

'You're one strange cat.'

* * *

Thursday evening came and went with no one stepping forward to claim Athena. She had not been in my dormitory during break or lunch nor was she there when I came to dump my things on my bed before dinner. When I returned from researching things in the library with Remus and Peter after dinner she was there however, preening herself. I smiled at her and deposited the books I had borrowed from the library on my bed.

'What d'you think, Goddess of Wisdom? Are these good books for writing an essay on the links between Lethifolds and Dementors?' Athena purred in assent. 'I must be a nutter with the amount I talk to you.' I shook my head and pulled out some stationery to begin my essay. Alice came in 20 minutes later and the two of us worked on the Defence Against the Dark Arts homework. Once that essay was complete Alice left again to go and find Frank. Marlene popped her head in for a moment to get her Quidditch gear before heading off to practice. Mary visited for an hour with Oliver wanting to gossip about some Hufflepuff girl and once she'd gone I finished the rest of my homework. Athena sat through it all watching the interactions between me and my girlfriends with curiosity.

After a while, she moved from my bed to the makeshift cat bed I had made for her and began scratching at the floor in front of it.

'If you don't like the floor it's not going to go away if you scratch it.' I shook my head despairingly as Athena shot me an annoyed look. She left her bed and stalked across the room the large window seat that overlooked the Hogwarts grounds. Gracefully, she leapt onto it and began tugging at the pillow on the windowsill. I sighed and got off my bed. Cautiously, I pushed Athena off the pillow and put the pillow on the floor. Athena then moved slowly forwards and examined the wall the pillow had been covering. I bent down to see what she was looking at. On the was there was something engraved on it.

 _The Girls of '52:_

 _Minnie McGonagall  
Betty Figg  
Kat Croft  
Liddy Davis_

I stared at the engravings. Could Minnie McGonagall be Professor McGonagall? It had to be! If it was then Sirius and James had been spot on with their nickname for her even if it was extremely disrespectful to call Professor McGonagall by anything other than _Professor_. Athena looked slightly saddened as she viewed the names. Not for the first time did mind question whether cats could read. Stupid Lily.

'Did you know these were here?' I asked her and her gaze told me the answer. Yes.

* * *

The weekend whizzed passed and as in the trend of horrible events time sped up so that before I knew it, it was Monday evening. At 6.50 pm I put down my work and got up from my bed with slightly trembling legs. Dread sat itself in my stomach and seemed to squelch horribly. Reluctantly, I put my shoes on and braced myself for what I needed to do. This was to help whoever the girl was who had 'tutoring' with Thornton. I placed my wand behind my ear and tugged at my plait. As my hand turned the door handle, there was a mew from behind me. Athena stood behind me looking up at me inquiring eyes.

'Where am I going?' I guessed and she mewed again. 'Somewhere shitty. Somewhere that isn't for something nice like you.' Athena mewed again. 'No, you can't come. Marlene's staying with Kieran tonight and Alice with Frank so you'll have the dormitory to yourself. I'll be back at some point.'

I shut the door behind me and headed down the staircase into the common room. I waved at the Marauders, who were playing exploding snap, on my way through and entered the corridor with a swift pace. At least the others were having good evenings. Kieran had spent about a day being unsure about how he felt after Marlene told him about the incident with Patrick but had forgiven her during Quidditch practice. Apparently, Quidditch was good for resolving issues.

I reached _his_ office not long after that and closed my mind before knocking on the door. It opened and I stepped inside with my wand out. I tugged at my plait.

* * *

20 minutes later and I returned to the common room wondering if I'd made things worse. Katie Harper, I'd realised her name when I'd seen her standing in the corner of his office, was probably paying for me telling Thornton I would report him. I wasn't sure if my threat was empty or not but at the end of the day I knew I would risk my place at Hogwarts if it meant Thornton's raping of Katie Harper would be known. But what if he hurt her even more after my visit? I barely noticed the Fat Lady asking for the password and when I shut the of the dormitory behind me I sank to the floor and cried for a while. I sobbed for a long time before I noticed the paw tapping my knee. Using my wand, I lit the lights and looked at Athena who was watching me carefully.

'Oh…h-hey Athena.' I wiped the tears from my cheeks and sniffed. 'D-d-d'you ever get yourself into bad situations. You know the ones which your stuck in and every second of it you want out but everywhere you turn is a wall?' My gaze watched the silver tabby cat as it walked around to the other side of me. 'I suppose something made you run away from home…' Athena mewed. 'Me?' I gave a very humourless laugh. 'I found out my teacher's raping Katie Harper. That's my situation. I found out my teacher's raping Katie Harper and when I tell someone he's going to get me expelled. Pretty shit, huh?' A fresh set of tears rolled down my cheeks. 'He put his hand up my leg and tried to pull down my tights when I had tutoring with him. How thick am I? Why the Hell didn't I tell someone about it then? If I had then none of this would have happened to Katie! But if I tell someone then he'll use his word against mine to get me expelled. I have to tell though…He's not going to stop if no one says anything and even if he gets me expelled first I guess it will've been worth it. I don't want to give up Hogwarts now…but I have to…'

I curled up in a ball and sobbed into my knees on the floor of the dormitory. I hugged my knees closer as I cried. Eventually, I tired myself out with crying and drifted off into a sleep filled with _his_ leering face.

When I awoke to the sound of my alarm the next morning, I found myself lying on my bed and not on the floor. I frowned in confusion but decided I must have sleep-walked my way onto my bed. The dormitory was completely empty. Athena, it seemed, had left and Alice and Marlene were still with their boyfriends. I walked sleepily into the bathroom and 20 minutes later was ready to go to breakfast. I ate alone as usual and completely zoned out so it took a while before I noticed someone had sat opposite me. I glanced up from my bowl of cereal and saw Professor Dumbledore sitting there reading a copy of the Daily Prophet.

'Miss Evans, it says here you're seeing the Lead Singer of the Golden Snidgets.' He said mildly and it took a lot of mental strength to stop myself gawping at him. 'Apparently, he sent you a love letter just last week.'

'I- Did he? I never opened the letter he sent me.' Professor Dumbledore chuckled. 'I suppose I should read it, just to be polite, and send a reply.'

'Be careful, Miss Evans. The reporters at the Daily Prophet are like vultures. Perhaps a false name or some protection charms will be in order.' The Headmaster advised.

'I'll bare that in mind when I reply to him.' I answered with a small smile.

'Now, the purpose of my social call.' He said rolling up his newspaper. 'Perhaps I could see you in my office during your first lesson of the day. Your teacher is aware so there is no need to alert them.'

'Yes, of course, Professor.'

'Excellent, Miss Evans. I shall see you in an hour then. The password is raspberry.' I nodded and returned my gaze to my cereal as Professor Dumbledore left the Great Hall. What did the Headmaster want to see _me_ about? A thousand answers swam around in my brain, none of them good, and I felt my stomach squirm uncomfortably.

A loud bang interrupted my thoughts as I jumped and spilt cereal all over myself. All around me hundreds of fireworks exploded and their sparks ricochet around the Great Hall before forming new and louder fireworks themselves. It took me a moment to realise the fireworks were forming a gigantic head with some words beneath it.

Thornton's head hung in the air with the words _I'm a creep_ underneath it in gold. I stared at it for a while before joining in with the cheering from everyone else in the Hall. Then the head exploded and showered slime onto the onlookers. Screams of disgust filled the room and I ducked beneath the table just in time to hear the loud splats as green gunk came in contact with heads, tables and floor. Once the coast was clear of raining goo, I crawled back out. Some of the remaining sparks had encircled Thornton's usual seat at the staff table and began scorching glittering outlines of male genitals all over it. I turned as the Great Hall doors burst open and the Marauders, chased but a burnt Thornton in his underwear, pelted into the Hall. Each male had their wand out, Thorton attempting to hit them with a rope conjuring spell and the Marauders lazily casting more of the acid green slime to fly out of their wands. I happily joined in with all the cries of support for the Marauders and the jeers in Thornton's direction.

'PROFESSOR THORNTON!' Professor McGonagall thundered, bring the chase to an end. 'What on earth made you think that such attire is appropriate?'

'Minerva… I…'

'It is never alright to chase students and attack them with spells! NEVER! HOW DARE YOU!' There was a loud cheer from the surrounding students. 'I suggest you accompany me to the Headmaster.'

Thornton didn't move.

'NOW!'

* * *

An hour later and I was outside giving the password to the gargoyle outside Professor Dumbledore's office. Then I took the spiral staircase up to the door and knocked. It opened and I walked inside. The Headmaster was seated behind his large desk in his ornate highbacked checked. Next to his desk stood two teachers; Professor McGonagall and Professor Thornton (now fully clothed though still singed) stood watching me. The expression on Thornton's face was enough to make me consider running out of the office but Professor Dumbledore smiled encouragingly at me and indicated at the chair in front of his desk. I slowly seated myself as he conjured another chair for Professor McGonagall. He did not conjure one for Thornton merely fixing him with a gaze of upmost disgust before looking at me again with a kindly smile.

'Well, Miss Evans, I think you may know why you're here.' He stated.

'Yes, sir.' I whispered.

'Professor McGonagall was approached on Tuesday of last week by one of your friends about the fact that they were worried about you. During the remainder of that week and yesterday, she conducted an investigation and found exactly what she was looking for yesterday evening. Perhaps you would recall the cat who was in your dormitory?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Minerva McGonagall is an extremely gifted witch who is also an animagus. She transforms into a silver tabby cat which you found in your dormitory.' I looked at Professor McGonagall with wide eyes. The amount of stupid things I had said to her was slightly embarrassing and even worse…she'd heard what I said last night. 'Her investigations led her to the truth about a trusted member of staff.'

Professor Dumbledore turned his gaze to Thornton.

'This man,' He said each word with deepest loathing. 'Raped Katie Harper.' Thornton looked as though he hadn't been expecting Professor Dumbledore's words.

'I think there's been a misunderstanding. Miss Evans, will tell you-'

'YOU THREATENED TO GET HER EXPELLED IF SHE DIDN'T KEEP HER MOUTH SHUT!' Professor McGonagall shouted at him, rising from her chair. I shrank into my own seat.

'Minerva, Miss Evans is still with us. I'm sure she would rather you didn't shout quite so much.'

'Yes…Yes of course.' Professor McGonagall agreed sitting herself back down.

'Of course, this mornings events have suggested that there are a few people who know of Professor Thornton's dealings but, Miss Evans, we can only act if you give an official statement or agreement from you as you are a victim. So, do you think you can tell me what he did to you?'

'Yes, Professor.' I said slowly and uncertainly. My eyes glanced uneasily towards Thornton whose eyes gleamed menacingly. I couldn't say it. No. I couldn't.

'She is weak isn't she?' Rowle's sneering voice slid into my head. 'Nothing but a pathetic piece of scum.'

'Petunia's told me Lily's got some issues in her brain.' Vernon said into my mind.

'Mudblood!' Chanted its way throughout the depths of my brain.

Weak. Pathetic. Issues. Mudblood. That was me. The voices swirled and churned in my mind as everyone watched me for my confession.

'P…' I began. I could do this. I was a Gryffindor. I could do this. I would show them all. 'Professor Thornton raped Katie Harper and tried to pull down my underwear.'

'Now, Mr Thornton.' Professor Dumbledore returned his gaze to Thornton. 'As Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I hereby fire you from this position. I have summoned aurors from the Ministry of Magic to escort you to Azkaban Prison where you will await your hearing for a lifetime sentence in prison. In fact, I believe that the aurors have just arrived.'

There was a loud wrap on the door before it burst open. Two aurors stood in the doorway.

'Dumbledore, Miss Evans is mistaken. I have don-'

'You would be better off saving that for the court room.' Professor Dumbledore's glowered at Thornton who was grabbed by the aurors. 'Now get out of my school!'

Once Thornton was out of the room both Professors turned to me.

'Miss Evans, I always find a hot chocolate cheers me up.' The Headmaster smiled at me. 'Minerva, perhaps you could take Miss Evans to the kitchens as I'm sure she won't know where they are.' A small smile crept onto my face as his eyes twinkled.

'Yes of course.' Professor McGonagall led me towards the door. Just as we reached the door Professor Dumbledore spoke again.

'Remember, Miss Evans. Help will always be given at Hogwarts if you just ask for it.'

Professor McGonagall and I walked in silence towards the Kitchens. I wondered where Katie Harper had been because surely, she was even more of a victim than me. I mean, she was actually raped by him.

'You must forgive me, Miss Evans.' Professor McGonagall's voice broke through my reverie. 'You must forgive me for invading your privacy last week.'

'Of course, Professor. I would never have confessed my situation to you if I'd known who you were. I'm glad I did confess to you in cat form. I'm sorry for some of the things I said to you…They must have been quite strange…' I trailed off, a tad embarrassed.

'Not at all, Miss Evans. As a teacher, I should know my students and in particular those in my own house. I often fear I am too distant from them for them to trust me.' I said nothing in response. What was someone supposed to say to that?

'Where was Katie Harper, Professor?' I asked curiously. 'Is she alright… I should've done more to stop it when I found out… I was scared of… Well, you know…'

'She was with Madame Pomfrey having a calming draught. She gave her statement to me this morning in the Hospital Wing.'

'Oh.'

'And now, Miss Evans, I believe it is time for your hot chocolate.' We had reached the Kitchens and a minute later a House Elf was handing me a steaming mug of hot chocolate. I took long soothing sips of the glorious liquid with every swallow filling me with warmth.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Did you like that chapter? I enjoyed writing about Professor McGonagall pretending to be a cat. I hoped you enjoyed reading it.**

 **Did you like the Marauder's prank? It wasn't as big as I'd planned but somehow, I struggled to write that bit. Oh well… I hope you liked it.**

 **Please review :)**


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

 **A/N: I'm suffering quite badly from writer's block so I hope this chapter isn't too bad.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

'Ow! My arm parts!' Marlene shouted out into the pitch black. There was the sound of someone stumbling back and then someone else gasping in shock as they were knocked into.

'Sorry!' Mary apologised. 'I'm just scared.'

'Well, grab on to Lily or Al.' Came her waspish response.

'Guys…can we wait a sec?' I asked cautiously as Marlene grumbled darkly about her arm's circulation. Swiftly, I lit my wand and the world around us was thrown into a blueish tinged light. 'Why the Hell didn't we do this before?'

'Because Mary panicked and dragged us here before we could get our wands. Or get any teachers.' Alice retorted.

'Yeah, and you're the only person weird enough to wear their wand behind their ear.' Mary added with a glare in Alice's direction.

'Hey, hey!' I said defensively as we began moving forward once more. 'I think we should all be grateful that _one_ of us has a wand with them.'

'Whatever.' Marlene grumbled. 'You'd better go in front then. Light the way and all that bullshit.' I moved ahead of the others and guided us through our surroundings.

'Does anyone have any idea where we're actually going?' I asked into the silence.

'No.' Mary sniffed loudly. 'The note just said he was in the forest.'

'Well that's just great isn't it!' Marlene snapped. 'Perfect. One wand. Four Witches. And no fucking idea where we're supposed to be heading. This is going so bloody well already!'

'Maybe I could summon him?' I suggested.

'Lily, you can't summon people.' Alice reminded me.

'Oh yeah…I can summon your wands though.' Marlene smacked her hand on her forehead.

'Perfect Lily!' She cried thumping me on the back. 'Why didn't I think of that? In fact, why don't you summon every fucking wanker of a human on earth as well. That'll work!'

'Sorry. It doesn't say you can't in the textbook.' I replied crossly. 'It's difficult to think straight when you're in the Forbidden Forest looking for someone with no clue where they are.'

'You can't summon magical objects either.' Mary said to me.

'That's convenient.' I wondered if I could try some wandless magic to create another light source. The castle grounds were no longer visible through the dense number of trees and every step we took went deeper into the forest. I had never performed wandless magic, only read its theory, but desperate times called for desperate measures. I drew to a halt and the others followed suit.

'What are we-'

'Shush!' Mary scolded and all three of them watched me curiously. A little uncertainly, I put my wand behind my ear and closed my eyes. Slowly, I moved my hand so it was flat open. One by one, I curved my fingers upwards and the rest of my hand followed suit. Alice gasped and I cautiously opened my eyes. In the palm of my hand floated a ball of golden light that had spirals of golden sparks jumping of it at random intervals. I handed it to Mary and repeated the movements twice more and gave one of the balls to Marlene and the other to Alice.

'I think you can put it on a stick and it'll work a bit like fire would but obviously doesn't go out.' I added and they promptly stooped down to pick up some sticks. The balls of light did indeed form torches and I felt a small smile form on my lips because I'd performed wandless magic for the first time. Of course, there were plenty of magical cultures that didn't use wands so this kind of magic was child's play to them but to someone who had only ever used a wand it was quite something.

We walked on through the dark forest following the path and holding our sources of light before us to reveal more forest. No one spoke so the only sound came from our feet treading on the ground and the occasional rustle of leaves as a breeze passed across the forest floor. But after about 20 minutes the path faded and eventually stopped. We echoed this and drew to a standstill.

'So, what now?' Alice asked worriedly. I stared around our surroundings. We were enclosed by towering pine trees but through the closely packed trunks I saw a glimmer of light. It was a clearing!

'There's a clearing up there. If we head there and then decide what our plan of action is.' I answered and there was a murmur of assent from the others. We did just that and after about two minutes we broke through the trees and into a clearing with a pond that reflected the light from the full moon. The full moon…

'Lily, babes, can you clean some of that pond water? I'm soooo thirsty!' Mary asked. 'Aguamenti water always tastes disgusting.'

'Sure.' I said as calmly as I could. Collecting water with a conjured bucket and cleaning it gave me the opportunity to hide my panicked face. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. The full moon! Somewhere in this forest was Oliver, kidnapped and probably crying, with a werewolf who had not taken their dose of Wolfsbane potion today. The Girls and I had headed to Mary's rooms before dinner to get Oliver and arrived to find them completely empty and a note saying Oliver had been taken into the Forbidden Forest and we'd better get him before… Shit! This had been part of the kidnapper's plan. We had rushed to go find him and because of this I hadn't had a chance to give Remus his dose of Wolfsbane potion. I knew that Marauders went around the Forbidden Forest during Remus' transformation due to the very fee things they'd ever let slip to me and obviously, someone else knew that too.

'Anyone got any ideas?' Mary asked as I handed her the clean water. She took a grateful sip and offered it to me but I shook my head. How could we find Oliver before Remus (in werewolf form) did? We had time. The forest was extremely large so it wasn't a guarantee Remus would come across Oliver but there was also a chance he would cross our path and with one wand between the four of us we were hardly prepared to take on a werewolf even if James, Sirius and Peter would be with him.

'I don't suppose anyone knows the centaurs well?' Alice asked.

'Yeah, I have fucking tea with them once a week.'

'Thestrals!' I burst out. Marlene and Mary looked utterly nonplussed but Alice nodded excitedly.

'Of course! They're amazing at finding things and Hagrid has some.' Alice babbled.

'Great. Fucking fantastic.' Marlene retorted irritably. 'And how do we find these miracle beings?'

'Meat.' I answered simply. 'We need meat.'

'And how do we get a load of bloody meat? We're in the middle of nowhere!' Marlene started pacing in frustration. Quietly, I pointed my wand at a stone on the ground and transfigured it into a cow carcass. 'Oh. Isn't that against… what's his face… Gaunt's law?'

'That law has more loopholes in than a medieval castle.' I told her and she pulled a face in response.

'And now we wait.' Mary said in a small voice. I put my arm around her in a comforting fashion.

'We'll find Ollie, Mary. Don't worry.' I tried to reassure her but it was difficult because I felt no confidence in my own words. I had no idea if we'd find Oliver and with a pile of meat by us there was a large chance that Thestrals wouldn't be the only things lured towards it. 'We just need hope and that'll get us through.' I stood up. 'I'm just going to get more water.'

As I knelt by the edge of the pond I clasped my hands around my mum's crucifix. I shut my eyes and whispered a desperate prayer that we would find Oliver safe and get him back to the castle unharmed. Eventually, I finished my prayer and collected some more water. With a swish of my wand the water was sterilised and I brought it back to the others.

Once more we waited, though this time in silence, and I prayed some more. In all honesty, I was scared. I was scared because there was a huge chance we wouldn't find Oliver. I was scared because there was a huge chance Remus would find Oliver. And I was scared because someone had done this; someone had planned this so meticulously that this scenario would occur.

'There!' Alice squealed and pointed at the dead cow. 'Something ate that piece of meat!'

She was right. There was a single Thestral eating the meat with gusto and as I watched, another joined it. The Girls were all looking slightly past the two Thestrals, clearly under the impression they were looking directly at them, and it dawned on me that they couldn't see them.

'Are we alright with two or d'you want one each?' I asked.

'Two's fine!' Marlene answered instantly. 'Just as long as we get a ruddy move on.'

'I second that.' Mary added and Alice nodded.

It took a while but after a few minutes I had helped them on to the Thestrals. It had been a slight struggle as they couldn't see them so by the time Alice was sitting on one of them three more had arrived and there was little point us all sharing two. Once Marlene and Mary were on their own Thestrals I climbed on to one of them myself.

'Just so you know,' Marlene grumbled. 'I hate all of you. I look fucking stupid floating in mid-air.'

Ignoring Marlene, I spoke to my Thestral.

'If you could find Oliver Wood we'd be extremely grateful.' I felt slightly stupid talking to a Thestral but after swallowing a piece of meat it began to canter off into the forest. Two small gasps and one loud swearword told me the others were just behind me. I bent my torso down so I was leaning on the Thestral's neck as it picked up speed. Without warning, the Thestral took off, dodging between the trees, and broke through the canopy. We flew above the forest with me forcing myself not to look down lest I get scared and scream. The Thestral sped across the sky and I thought longingly of a pair of gloves as my hands grew numb. Behind me the Girls flew with Marlene letting out the occasional whoop. After a few minutes the Thestral dived and plummeted towards the trees below. I ducked my head further down to protect myself from the thick amount of tree branches that didn't seem to disturb the Thestral. We landed with a soft thump that was followed by three more soft thumps as the others arrived. Mary, Alice, Marlene and I dismounted and held out or lights to try and see our surroundings.

This part of the forest was even denser and darker than our previous location. I shivered a little due to nerves mixed with the cold and cast a warming charm over myself.

'You guys want a warming charm?' I was met with three nods so I obediently cast three more charms.

'Any idea where we should go from here?' Alice asked. I directed my gaze to the floor to see if there was any trace of a path or at least somewhere someone had walked. Around us was dense vegetation except for one gap which was most likely a deer path.

'That looks like our best bet.' Marlene said and lead the way down the break in vegetation. We ploughed on, leaving the Thestrals grazing behind us, and tried to search for Oliver. Trees loomed over us and our lights were pointed at the ground so we could see the thick tree roots covering the forest floor.

'Wait!' Mary said suddenly. 'That's a human footprint.' We crowded around where Mary was pointing. I squatted down to examine it.

'It's newish by the looks of things. I'd guess it was made a few hours ago.' I peered at the foot imprint. 'Could be absolutely anyone's shoe.'

'We can play Inspector Poirot once we've found Ollie.' Mary said a little hurriedly.

'Who's In-spec-tor Poirot?' Alice asked in confusion.

'Some muggle, I'm guessing.' Marlene answered as Mary ignored the deer path we'd found and began following the direction of the footprint.

'Come on you two.' I said as I followed Mary. 'We're not splitting up.' The two of them trailed behind us and we began battling our way through the dense brambles and other vegetation. I wrenched my leg out of yet another set of thorns and heard my black opaque tights rip. Another few paces and Marlene was swearing about being caught in brambles. Hurriedly, I untangled her just as Alice let out a sigh of frustration at the amount of vegetation. The dense clutter of undergrowth made progress slow and even with Mary carving out a path in front I was difficult to follow the exact same route as her.

'Are we sure this is going anywhere? We've found fuck all so far.' Marlene grumbled from behind me.

'Quit complaining and keep moving.' Alice snapped from the back and jabbed Marlene in the back.

'Well, you quit poking me!' Marlene growled in response.

'Let's just calm it down!' I tried to stop the two of them throwing themselves at each other. 'Beating each other up isn't going to help anyone.'

'G-guys!' Mary called from the front. 'I think I've- Ollie!'

'Mary!' We cried in unison and somehow managed to sprint to where she was. Mary was crashing through the undergrowth towards a small break in the undergrowth and trees. It couldn't be classed as a clearing but as we reached it we saw a basket sitting on a tree stump. It was only now that we'd ceased moving that we could hear the crying of a baby. Inside the basket, wrapped in copious amounts of blankets, was Oliver wailing his little heart out.

Mary pulled him out of the basket and cradled him close to her chest. Tears of joy and relief streamed down her cheeks. My own face broke out in a smile and all four of us hugged each other with Oliver squirming in between us. Mary kissed his forehead and clung to him as though she'd never let go. I let out a breath of relief and leaned against a large pine tree.

'Thank Merlin!' Marlene said happily. 'I swear-'

'Don't.' I advised her and she chuckled. I put my arms around Alice and Marlene as we watched Mary snuggle with Oliver. A fondness hung around the group as we slowly made our way back the way we came with Alice in front, Mary behind her, Marlene behind Mary and me behind Marlene. Perhaps it was because we'd found Oliver again or perhaps it was because we realised all four of us were willing to go through with this adventure for each other.

I heard it before I saw it and yelled at the others to run back to where the Thestrals were. The snarling of the werewolf leaping towards us was enough to stop my heart. But panic wouldn't help anything so I steadied myself and pointed my wand ready to fight.

'Al! Help Mary onto the Thestral.' I instructed as I sent a stinging hex at the werewolf causing it to roll back in pain. 'Sorry Remus.' I whispered. 'Al you go after Mary and Ollie. Then you Marls. I'll hold it off as long as I can!'

Marlene and I stood before the Thestrals, Alice, Mary and Oliver, shielding them from the werewolf as it began to get back on its feet.

'Marls, if-'

'Don't you dare start doing apologies and shit!' She snapped at me.

'I wasn't going to!' I answered indignantly and I shot another stinging hex at the werewolf which whimpered and doubled over. 'I was going say, if you pull off chunks of your light and throw them they turn into flames when they hit something.'

'Right.' She said through gritted teeth as the werewolf moved towards us once more. Marlene flung one piece of light after another in a line before us. Little fires began bursting into flame as more light showered down. Then I realised what she was doing.

'Brilliant, Marls!' I cried as I bewitched bramble thorns to fly at the werewolf. She was creating a ring of fire around us so that the werewolf couldn't get near us without burning itself. The werewolf growled as the thorns pierced into it. I heard a shout from Mary to signal she was on her Thestral with Oliver and a few seconds later, Alice did the same. The smoke from the fires was making it difficult to see the werewolf. 'Right Marls, your turn.'

Then it was only me left fighting. The werewolf was slowly moving backwards and then it leant back. I realised what it was doing. It was going to jump and jump far enough to reach me behind the fire. My eyes widened and I shifted in stance to brace myself. Then my brain seemed to head into overdrive as I cast an impedimenta jinx to slow down the werewolf and after that an ebublio jinx which encased the werewolf in a large bubble. I levitated the bubble in the air and moved it continually from side to side willing the bubble not to burst. As I moved the bubble I contemplated my next move because Marlene was still climbing onto her Thestral. In the depths of my mind, the song I had read about in the Founder's Library began singing itself. Smoke choked me as I opened my mouth and began to cough at the ash entering my lungs. I forced myself to sing the words despite the smoke as the bubble popped.

 _Ein Jäger aus Kurpfalz,  
der reitet durch den grünen Wald  
und schießt sein Wild daher,  
gleich wie es ihm gefällt.  
Ju ja, ju ja! Gar lustig ist die Jägerei  
allhier auf grüner Heid._

At the sound of the song leaving my lips the werewolf went into a kind of trance and eventually fell unconscious as I willed it with my mind to sleep. The song itself wasn't even about werewolves; it was about a hunter hunting and in the next few verses he also impressed a maiden. My face saddened as I looked at the werewolf lying on the ground. With a flick of my wand I extinguished the fires and I moved slowly towards the werewolf's unconscious form. Although the werewolf wasn't Remus, the human it would eventually turn back into would be Remus. And it was Remus who would bare the wounds of tonight.

'Lily! What are you doing?' Marlene shouted at me causing me to jump. 'We need to go!'

'Why are you lot still here? You should have left!' I responded irritably.

'We weren't going to leave without you.'

I shook my head in despair and knelt down next to the unconscious werewolf. I pointed my wand at it and murmured an incantation. Silver petals drifted out of my wand tip and swirled around the werewolf with silvery light trailing behind them. I continued murmuring my incantation and the petals turned gold as they settled on the wounds of the werewolf. Petal by petal they were absorbed into the injuries and the wounds glowed a bright gold before healing. 'I'm so sorry Remus.' I whispered before turning and joining the others. As I clambered onto my Thestral the others questioned me.

'Why'd you do that? It's a werewolf!' Alice asked as we flew in direction of the edge of the forest.

'Because in a few hours it'll be a person again.' I answered and any other questions the others had died in their mouths. The Thestrals landed at the edge of the forest a few minutes later and we dismounted before heading up to the castle.

'I knew the rumours about werewolves in the forest were true.' Mary said as we walked up to the front doors which were miraculously still open.

'So what are we going to say happened?' I asked cautiously.

'I don't know…I mean someone will have noticed we were gone. I mean, it's midnight and we haven't been in the castle since our last lesson.' Alice said thoughtfully.

'If we say nothing for now but if we're forced to we'll say everything minus the werewolf part. No one'll believe that bit.' Marlene said simply and the others nodded in agreement.

'How's Ollie doing?' I asked Mary.

'I think he's alright but I've got a check-up for him tomorrow with Madame Pomfrey so if anything is wrong she'll find it.'

'I bet she will. That woman has eyes like a hawk.' Alice snorted. Marlene, Alice and I said goodnight to Mary and Ollie as we split to go our separate ways. The three of us walked in silence as I pondered the occurrences of the past few hours.

'You don't think that kidnapping Ollie was to get us out of the way?' I asked into the silence. 'I mean, they must've known enough about us to know Mary wouldn't wait to get help from a teacher and that we'd help Mary.

'It's a thought.' Alice agreed thoughtfully.

'But get us out of the way of what?' Marlene asked and I returned to my thoughts.

'T-that.' Alice stuttered.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed that chapter! I really enjoyed writing this because it was just a moment with the Lily and her girlfriends.**

 **Please review :)**


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

 **A/N: I really enjoyed writing last chapter and I hope you like it. This chapter is continuing where we left off.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

'T-that.' Alice stuttered as we opened the door to our dormitory. The room before us was in ruins. Our bedding lay in tatters all over the room with pieces of cotton still floating in the air. The contents of our wardrobes, school bags and bedside cabinets spilled over the floor and our mirrors were completely smashed. But the mess of our belongs wasn't the worst thing for in the centre of the room hung a figure from the ceiling by the hood of their robes. It dripped blood on to the floor and a small pool of the sticky liquid was forming beneath. Even as we stared horror struck, there was a loud ripping sound as the body fell with a loud thud to the floor.

I scrambled over to the body and grabbed its wrist to find a pulse. There was a faint beating but it was extremely irregular.

'You know when we said we weren't going to tell anyone about this…' I said to the others as I listened for a sign that the person was breathing.

'Yeah?'

'Screw that! Al go get Professor McGonagall! Marls help me with this!' I instructed and the two of them agreed. Alice rushed off and Marlene knelt next to me. Hurriedly, I cast Themis and sent her to fetch Madame Pomfrey before I got to work. 'We need to check for injuries.'

Marlene and I rolled the body onto its side.

'Fuck!' Marlene muttered as she looked at the body's face. 'It's Harriet Ross!'

The two of us carefully removed her black school robes and gently rolled up her blouse to reveal 7 slashes on her back. Both Marlene and I swore in sync with one another. Marlene hurried to find some blood replenishing potion in the mess of our room as I began healing the wounds of Harriet Ross. I mumbled my incantation and as with the times before silver glowing petals floated out of my wand and swirled their way towards the gashes. Gradually, they seeped into the wounds and healed them with a glow of gold.

Her breathing was ragged and her pulse still weak but there was nothing I could do without Madame Pomfrey and without a blood replenishing potion. I tried summoning the potion but nothing happened and Marlene showed me the smashed remnants of what had once been my most useful potion.

'Girls!' Madame Pomfrey cried from the doorway.

'We need a blood replenishing potion!' I said quickly and she fumbled in her apron pocket to produce the tiny lifesaving vial which she tipped down Harriet Ross' throat. Alice returned to the scene with Professor McGonagall in toe. Our Professor stared at the room around her.

'I think Madame Pomfrey and I will take Miss…Miss Ross to the Hospital wing. You three ladies will be questioned in the morning.' And with that the two adults plus Harriet Ross left the dormitory leaving us to clean up the mess. I flicked my wand and immediately all the objects began fixing themselves and returning to their original place.

'Someone's going to have shit tonne of bad luck.' Marlene said mildly as the tinkling of the mirrors repairing themselves filled the room.

'Very true.' Alice agreed loudly over the sound of the beds scraping across the floor to their actual places.

'I think we've got a shit tonne of bad luck.' I grumbled picking up the picture frames on my bedside table to check they'd repaired themselves. As I lifted them off the bedside table they suddenly burned red hot and I dropped them as my fingers flinched in agony. When I looked at the spot where I'd dropped them I saw something scorched onto the floor. The branded message read 'We warned you before.' I stared at it but refused to let myself be intimidated. Vanishing it quickly, I lay down on my bed and closed my eyes.

'Shit.' Marlene said suddenly. 'It's Valentine's Day tomorrow.'

'I can't believe that's what's bothering you.' I groaned and covered my head with my pillow. 'Not the fact that someone was attacked in our room. Not the fact someone trashed our room or the fact someone kidnapped Ollie. _No_ that's nothing compared with Valentine's Day tomorrow.'

'Sorry.' She snapped in response.

'I'm not really looking forward to it either.' Alice admitted. I let out a scream of frustration into my pillow. 'Lily, you can't talk!' She threw her pillow at me.

'Hey!' I cried indignantly throwing it back at her.

'Who was it who hid in this very room for the whole of Valentine's Day last year? Who was it who transfigured themselves the year before so that no one would notice them? And what about the year before that where they walked around with a disillusionment charm on them?'

'Hmph.' I grumbled sitting up and hugging my pillow to my chest whilst the other two erupted with laughter. 'You can't blame me. James was a rather threatening be it fake admirer!'

'Threatening!' Marlene cackled. 'More like bloody hilarious! He tried to climb up to our dorm last year and the stairs turned into a slide and he fell right into McGonagall. I almost pissed myself laughing.'

'You were dating Tom at that point though.' Alice said thoughtfully. 'I always wondered why you hid last year. I mean you were dating someone…'

'Well, it saved me doing the whole dramatic destroying of things he'd bought me when we split up.' I pointed out.

'Yes, but you didn't know you'd split up at that point.' Marlene countered. I shrugged.

'I'm not a fan of Valentine's Day and besides James still tried his stunt and this room saved me from it.' I answered simply. 'So why're you two not looking forward to tomorrow?'

'All the pink and love hearts isn't really my thing.' Marlene said and lay back on her bed.

'Frank will probably do something really sweet and I know I'll love it but...' Alice trailed off.

'But?' Marlene prompted.

'It'll be really embarrassing if he does anything in front of loads of people.' She wailed and I rolled my eyes at her.

'I'm sure he'll consider your embarrassment.' I reassured her. We fell into a companionable silence and listened to the rain that had started falling outside. The raindrops pattered against the window making me feel very warm and comfortable inside our dormitory safe from the elements. 'Look at us worrying about Valentine's Day like a bunch of soppy teenage girls!' I chuckled as did Alice.

'Don't you fucking dare call me a soppy teenage girl, Lily Evans!' Marlene grumbled at me. 'There's nothing soppy about my legitimate fear of love hearts and pink!'

The rain continued to fall as we continued to bicker affectionately into the early hours of the morning and I was glad that we had each other to distract ourselves from the nightmares of today that would appear in our dreams should we close our eyes.

* * *

At 3 am sleep eventually hit Marlene and Alice so I was able to sneak into the common room without any questions being asked. As I tiptoed into the room, the portrait hole opened and James, Sirius and Peter entered. Peter was being supported by a limping Sirius and James who looked tired but otherwise unharmed. I rushed over to them and helped Peter on to one of the sofas and quickly healed his broken bones. Then I sorted out Sirius' injured leg before asking them what happened.

'What happened?' I asked concernedly.

'Mooney didn't have his last dose of Wolfsbane so he was mad. It's like all the aggression from all his transformations that he used the potions in came out in this one.' James explained. 'I had detention with Slughorn until about midnight so I wasn't with the others until later. When I found them, Wormtail was being held up by Padfoot with Mooney unconscious on the ground.'

'Right.' I said.

'Basically,' Sirius started. 'Wormtail was injured pretty quickly and I went to go help him. Mooney hit me then and he was going to do some more damage until he smelt something and dashed off. I had to carry Wormtail so it took us a while to catch up and find him. By the time we found him, he was unconscious and Prongs arrived a little after that. It took us a long time to get Mooney back to where Madame Pomfrey brings him but he didn't wake up for any of it. We don't know what knocked him out but he was out cold until he transformed back into a human.'

'Of course…' I murmured to myself. 'With the song I willed him to fall asleep so he obeyed. My control would've been lost once he wasn't a wolf anymore. The song controls the wolf not the human they turn back into.'

'What?' Peter asked confused.

'It doesn't matter.' I dismissed. 'Right! Off to bed with you lot.' I said briskly.

'Wait.' James said holding the others back. 'Lils, knows more about this than she's letting on.'

'What gave you that idea?' I asked defensively.

'Spill.' James instructed and the three boys sat down in front of waiting expectantly. I knew they wouldn't go to bed until I told them so I sighed and told them everything.

By 4 am everything had been explained and we all stood up to head to bed.

'So you went into the forest unprotected?' James asked in a strange voice.

'I'm pretty sure I covered that pretty early on.' I answered warily. Sirius and Peter watched our interaction with apprehension.

'Why didn't you bring me with you? I could've-'

'Been our knight in shining armour?' I finished for him.

'Well, folks, I'm off to bed.' Sirius said cheerfully but I barely heard him as I glowered at James who stood before me looking annoyed. 'Wormy?' Peter willing scurried after Sirius up the boys' staircase. I cast a silencing charm around the common room just in case my temper grew out of control.

'James, I don't see a problem.' I said sweetly but continued to glare at him. 'We got ourselves out just fine.'

'I don't like the idea of you going into the forest without me to look out for you.' He said stoutly.

'I don't need you to protect me!' I snapped.

'I disagree. Lils, the Forbidden Forest is dangerous and you don't know you way around it.' The way he spoke caused my mind to scream in indignation and I struggled to keep control. 'I just don't think a girl like you should do something dangerous without a man to protect them.'

'A girl like me?' I asked venomously. 'So what am I like? Pathetic? Scared? Useless? Unable to cast a decent spell? Because if that's the case, James Harold Potter, then this shouldn't hurt a man like you!' I punched him in the face and I heard his glasses break as I made contact with them. Stepping back, I glowered at James, who'd fallen back with the force of the punch, and breathed in deeply. He swore loudly as he touched where I'd punched him.

'Lils, I'm sorry…' He said quietly as he pushed himself up. 'It's just…Mooney could've killed you and…and I don't know what I'd do if…if he had…'

'You think I don't know that?' I asked softly. 'I knew he would have crushed me if he'd jumped and I hadn't…'

'I'm sorry.' James said again but this time he said it louder. He winced as he moved towards me. 'That was one painful punch, Lils.' He said removing his broken glasses and rubbing where I'd hit him.

'Well, serves you right for being a sexist prick.' I answered taking his glasses from him and repairing them.

'Thanks.' James mumbled and took his glasses back. He placed them on his nose and wriggled it. 'It's not broken but I'm going to have a black eye for ages now.'

'That's your punishment.' He fixed me with a pleading gaze. 'No I will not fix it for you. Don't try the puppy eyes!' Ignoring this, James attempted to look cute and unfortunately succeeded. He looked so sweet it took all my strength not to give in. 'We should go to bed.' His face fell quite adorably but I refused to relent. 'Night, sexist prick.'

'I'm not living that down for a while, am I?'

'Not a chance.'

'Night, face breaker.'

* * *

The morning of Valentine's Day did not evoke any excited emotions from me or my roommates who groaned in irritation when I woke them up after I'd eaten my breakfast. I'd brewed some wake me up potion, with a piece of toast in hand, in the dungeons that morning and handed both Marlene and Alice one as I woke them. All three of us had had hardly any sleep so the potions were extremely welcome. It was lucky, really, that the potion was quick and easy to make. Despite the potion, makeup and spells were required to sort out my dark circles and puffy eyes. At least I no longer felt tired.

The three of us headed down to Second Breakfast and there we met Mary holding out the wands of Marlene and Alice which they had left in her rooms during the fiasco of searching for Oliver. She winked at the three of us and headed over to Andrew who was holding Oliver in one arm and a bunch of roses in the other. Leaving the Woods to their Valentine's Day exchange we headed into the Great Hall. Seating ourselves at the Gryffindor table I looked down it to see if I could see James. I found him quite easily and chuckled at the sight of his black eye.

'How the fuck did Potter get that on him?' Marlene asked following my line of sight. I simply laughed in response and when he caught my eye I erupted into full on snorts. James pouted in my direction as I cackled. 'On second thoughts…I don't want to know.'

I saw Kieran come up behind Marlene and he mimed at me to say nothing. Then he covered her eyes with his hands.

'Guess who?' He asked cheerfully.

'Hmmm…' Marlene said pretending to think. 'Who's the only person who'd do dare to do that? I guess…Dumbledore!'

'Lena!' Kieran groaned.

'Fine.' She said grumpily. 'Kieran?'

'Correct!' He answered with a grin and plopped into the seat next to her. Kieran produced a card and handed it to Marlene. She opened it and stared. 'It's blue not pink so you can't be annoyed about that. And they're not love hearts, they're smiley faces.' Marlene continued to stare at her card and slowly her mouth began to hang open. 'Lena?'

'I think you've given her brain damage.' I said with a sip of water. 'Shouldn't make too much of a difference. She'll be bitchy either way.' That brought Marlene back to her senses as she tried to whack me and I was forced to dodge her flailing arm. 'I reckon she's alright.'

The post owls flew in and two letters landed in front of me. One I recognised to be from my dad and with a sinking feeling I realised the other was from Daniel Stromdale. Thinking I would open the letter from my dad first I opened it and pulled out a Valentine's Day card.

 **A Card From John Evans to Lily Evans:**

Dear Lily,

Happy Valentine's Day to my favourite witch daughter! Try not to be grouchy today (I know how much you hate it) because believe it or not some people actually enjoy Valentine's Day. Remember that!

Love,

Your old Dad

I grinned at his card. He'd drawn a cartoon on one side of the card of me ripping up a card brought to me by Prince Charming and saying, 'I'll keep the chocolates though!'. Unfortunately, my second card wasn't quite so pleasant. As I pulled it out of the envelope I noted it's lurid pink exterior. The picture was of a man, who looked remarkably like Daniel Stromdale, handing a bunch of red roses to a red-haired lady. I wrinkled my nose in disgust but read the card to be polite.

 **A Card From Daniel Stromdale to Lily Evans:**

My dearest love,

Your response to my last letter was quite heart-breaking but I feel that on this day of love I must once again share my feelings.

Lily Evans, you have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen that sparkle in the light of the moon. Your hair is truly a gift from above and when I close my eyes I think of it.

Be my Valentine for I care for you most ardently.

Love,

Your Daniel

Slowly, I replaced the card in its envelope and returned to drinking my water. I really hated Valentine's Day. Frank was now sitting next to Alice and the two of them were now exchanging flirts. Opposite me, Kieran and Marlene were making out and on my other side, Mary and Andrew were whispering sweet nothings to each other while Oliver gurgled happily on his mum's lap. In short, I was surrounded by affectionate couples and it was making me feel extremely awkward. Making up my mind, I grabbed my things and stood up. My first idea had been to join James, Sirius and Peter but I saw James wearing an extremely sour look as I walked up to them and backtracked. Instead, I headed out of the Great Hall and decided I would visit Remus in the Hospital Wing before classes began. My journey to the Hospital Wing was quick and I pushed open the door. Madame Pomfrey smiled at me and I wandered over to where Remus was reading a book.

'Hey, Remus.' I said with a smile. 'How goes it?'

'Oh great. Nothing feels better than the aftermath of a transformation.' He answered with a small grin.

'Sorry I didn't give you your dose.' I said quietly. 'Maybe I'll just give you a week's worth of potion instead of a dose each day. That way it won't matter if you don't see me on one of the days.'

'Sure.' He said with a shrug. 'I don't mind, Lily, so don't feel bad about forgetting.'

'The boys haven't visited you yet, have they?' I asked with a frown.

'No…why?'

'Nothing.' I answered a little too quickly but Remus didn't pursue the subject.

'Had any Valentine's Day cards yet?' He asked with an evil smile spreading across his face.

'Have I ever!' I said with disgust. 'I got one from my dad as usual so that was alright but James' cousin sent one as well. Urgh. He is not my cup of tea.' Remus chuckled.

'I'll agree with you there. Daniel's pretty full of himself.'

'Look at the card he sent me!' I moaned pulling out the offending card. Remus snorted at the sight of the colour.

'Nice colour.'

'I'm not even sure you can count it as pink. It's awful…' I squirmed when I saw the picture again.

'How can you say that, Lily? He's obviously gone to great lengths to get such a personal card.' I cuffed him around the head just as the bell went.

'See you around.' I said with a sigh and he waved me off still chortling about my card.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked that chapter. The mystery continues but how to catch the villains?**

 **Please Review :)**


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

 **A/N: Life continues in Jily land. Yay! I'm not one hundred percent sure where this chapter is going but we'll see. Btw I'm reeeeeeeeeeally sorry this is late.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

I sat in the Great Hall staring grumpily at James who was returning my gaze with a smug expression. It was Second Breakfast so I sipped my water in moody fashion and glowered at my smirking companion.

'You could try to look cheerful you know.' James said continuing with his evil grin.

'And you could try impaling yourself and yet you're not doing so.' I retorted and took another sip of water.

'You should be smiling. After all, your adoring admirer loves it more than anything.' My face turned even sourer at James' comment, if that was possible, as Sirius came up behind him and started singing.

'Green dress, red lips-'

'Don't you dare say the next line!' I begged and covered my ears as James laughed.

'And a smile that leads straight to sex,' Sirius continued to warble. I groaned and buried my face in my arms. 'That Little Miss Scarlet.'

'Please don't finish that verse.' I pleaded and Sirius smirked in a way that was identical to James' grin.

'Little Miss Scarlet,' Sirius began.

'Hey, hey, hey!' James sang the next line.

'She ain't no harlot.' Sirius continued.

'And she's fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!' James intoned loudly in my face and I tipped the rest of my water over his head. He spluttered and a small smile found its way onto my pissed off face. 'Lils!' He cried indignantly and shook his head spraying droplets of water everywhere.

'Prongs!' Sirius grumbled. 'Acting like a dog's my job.'

At Sirius statement my eyes widened.

My situation of being sung at by James and Sirius had arisen due a particular song released two days prior by the Golden Snidgets. Little Miss Scarlet was a truly awful song, according to me and no one else, and had been officially ruined by a letter sent to me the day after its release. Daniel Stromdale had written to me saying that I had been his muse for the song and this letter had been ripped up in disgust as soon as I'd read it. Unfortunately, tearing up a letter attracted the attention of my friends and I then endured James chasing after me for the torn pieces of parchment. I successfully ran away from him but then he used his common sense and summoned them. Sirius and James had then read the letter and ever since had been singing the song at me. Luckily, they had told no one else of the contents of the letter and simply declared to the rest of our mates that Daniel Stromdale had written another annoying letter.

'Pouring water on me was highly unnecessary.' James grumbled as I flicked my wand and dried him.

'Singing that song was highly unnecessary.' I answered and Sirius snorted. 'Why can't you two channel your pre-match adrenalin into running or something instead of harassing me?'

'Where's the fun in that?' Sirius sighed dramatically.

'Nowhere.' James answered before I could come back with a decent response.

'Shouldn't you two be in the changing rooms getting ready or something?' I prompted.

'I suppose.' James grumbled. 'Want to walk with us?'

'Not really. I-'

'I've just seen Andrew. I wanted to ask him something.' Sirius cut in. 'Lily, walk James to the changing rooms, will you? Make sure he gets there in time.' He winked and James put his middle finger up at Sirius' retreating back.

'James Harold Potter!' I scolded. I heard Sirius let out a bark of laughter as he reached Andrew. 'There are small children around!'

'Sorry, dear.' James apologised with a grin and offered his arm which I whacked before taking. 'Come on. Let's get going.'

I obliged and the two of us headed out of the Great Hall arm in arm and through the Entrance Hall into the grounds. It was a fine day for the 1st of March and the first sunshine of spring sparkled throughout the world around us. I sighed contentedly and looked up at the sky.

'That's a kite.' I said randomly, pointing out a bird that darted across the sky. 'You can tell by the shape of their tail. It's in th-'

'Lils…' James interrupted.

'Yes?'

'C-can you wear my lucky scarf for today's match?' He asked nervously. I frowned at him. I'd never even realised he had a lucky scarf.

'Why aren't you wearing it?'

'Usually I leave it in the changing rooms during the match but it's the semi-final and we lost last year. I'd feel luckier if you were wearing it.' He answered. His explanation didn't exactly enlighten me but I nodded nevertheless.

'Sure.' I said with a smile. 'If it means you'll feel luckier.'

As we reached the changing room, James removed his scarf from around his neck and wrapped it around mine. I hugged him and wished him luck before heading to the stands. As I climbed the steps of the stands, I stubbed my toe and swore loudly.

'Well, I _find_ that language atrocious.' A voice said from behind me and I spun around. 'You're a prefect – you should be ashamed.'

'Tom?' I asked in surprise and he grinned at me. 'Hi! How are you?'

'Great, actually. You?'

'I just stubbed my toe but apart from that I _find_ myself in good spirits.' I answered with a grin of my own and Tom's smile widened.

'You're supporting Gryffindor, I assume.'

'Yup. And I'm guessing you're supporting Hufflepuff.'

'Of course.' He said with a nod. 'But currently I'm being a traitor and talking to you.'

'Fraternizing with the enemy.' I shook my head in mock shame. 'Whatever shall we do with you?'

'Well, my only witness is you so I reckon I'll be alright.'

'I wouldn't be too sure about that.' I said folding my arms. 'I'm mates with several members of the Gryffindor team.'

'I can see that.' Tom nodded towards my scarf. 'Potter's scarf…' He smiled slightly. 'I _find_ that extremely interesting.' I shrugged.

'It's his lucky scarf and he asked me to wear it.'

'I heard on my way here. I was walking behind you two but I didn't want to interrupt. I wanted to talk to you.'

'Right.'

'I wanted to say that I would like to be friends.' Tom told me. My insides did a jump of joy at his words.

'Well, friend, we'd better shake hands and go our separate ways as I spy some spectators arriving.' I patted him on the back before shaking his hand. 'We wouldn't want you to be attacked by a load of Gryffindor supporters.' Tom grinned and made his way out of the Gryffindor stands towards the Hufflepuff ones. I smiled after him and then spotted the Girls plus Oliver. I waved at them and they made their way over to me before we all sidled into some seats.

* * *

The after party celebrating Gryffindor's victory and place in the final had started after dinner and at 2 am was still going on. I had volunteered to look after Oliver so that Mary and Andrew could go and celebrate the victory in the common room and given my congratulations to the Gryffindor team directly after the match. I had also returned James' lucky scarf. Now I sat with Oliver asleep in my arms in Mary's living room. He was snuggled into me and had one of his tiny hands wrapped around my finger. Gently, I stroked his face and smiled at the soft dark curls starting to grow on his head. My Godson…

There was a soft knock on the door and I carefully stood up to answer the door. I padded towards the door with the sleeping Oliver cuddled into my chest and slowly opened the door. James stood in the threshold holding out a slice of cake which looked like it had been part of a snitch cake. I stepped aside to let him in before quietly shutting the door behind him.

'I brought you some cake.' He said simply and sat down on the sofa. I joined him and Oliver shifted in his sleep.

'You didn't have to.' I told him but accepted the slice nonetheless.

'Can't have you missing out on the celebration.'

'I don't mind. Mary's Andrew's wife so it would be unfair if they couldn't celebrate together.' I explained with a shrug.

'Well, you're celebrating with me and little Ollie.' James put his arm on the back of the sofa as I leaned back. Oliver gurgled in his sleep.

'Maybe this little guy should go to bed.' I said softly standing up. Tenderly, I laid the sleeping baby in his cot and for a moment watched him snoring softly before turning to see James had followed me into the nursery. I smiled fondly at him and he mirrored my expression. James' hair was its usual messy self and I had a sudden urge to try and comb it flat with my fingers. Fighting this random madness, I headed back to the living room and focused on the safe activity of eating my slice of cake. The sofa I was sat on creaked slightly as James sat down beside me.

'Lils…' He said into the silence as I ate.

'Mmm.'

'What's hanging?' I swallowed my mouthful of cake and stared at him.

'Not much really.' I supplied with a grin and James rolled his eyes.

'I meant what does hanging mean?'

'Hanging?' I asked uncertainly and James nodded earnestly. 'Why d'you want to know what that is?'

'Your sister's husband mentioned it when I was at yours and I haven't been able to find out what it is. None of the Muggle Studies books in the library mention it.'

'Umm…Are you sure you want to know?'

'Yes.' He replied firmly and I tugged at my plait nervously.

'Hanging is when…umm…in the past Muggles used to punish some criminal actions with a death sentence. Well, some countries still have a death sentence. Anyway…hanging was one of the techniques used.' James was watching me with rapped attention. 'Basically, there's a piece of rope they use, called a noose. It's a loop of rope and this loop would be put around a criminal's neck. The loop would be hung and the criminal would stand on a stage before the executioner would make the floor fall and the criminal would hang there until they were dead.'

'That's fucked up.' James said horrified.

'And the Dementor's kiss is any better?' I countered.

'True…No offence to your sister but her husband is messed up.'

'He's…opinionated.' I said slowly. 'What even made you think of hanging?'

'I wrote to your dad yesterday and it just reminded me of my stay at yours. Every other Muggle thing you explained to me but hanging was something you never did. That's probably why I thought of it.'

'You wrote to my dad?' I asked in surprise. James writing to my dad – that was an interesting development.

'Yeah, I needed his advice on something.' He answered nonchalantly.

'Right.' I nodded and didn't press the point. 'So…how d'you feel the match went?'

'Since when do you care about Quidditch?'

'I don't but you do so that means I'm interested.' I answered with a shrug. The gaze James fixed me with made my cheeks start to heat up. Quickly, I focused on collecting the last of the cake crumbs. What was with me today?

I felt James' hand reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. I looked up sharply from my cake crumbs and I knew at his smirk that I was bright red.

'Some hairs had fallen out of your braid.' He said with an innocent shrug and I patted my plait self-consciously. 'The match was good.' James began with a grin and I glowered at how smug he was. 'We had lots of luck after all.'

'I don't agree with that. You've got a good team Captain.' I thumped him on the back. 'Luck's got nothing to do with that.'

'Or maybe it was because we had an extra supporter.' He suggested with a pointed look at me.

'Me?' James nodded. 'But I'm there every Gryffindor match…'

'You never cheer us on though. Up until this school year you'd bring a book and read it during the match.' He explained. 'This year you watched the games without cheering or anything but today you did.'

'How would you know what I do during the match?' I asked suspiciously. 'You're supposed to have your attention on the game.'

'Maybe I have eyes in the back of my head.' He answered nudging me.

'No, you don't.' I dismissed with an eyeroll.

'And how can you prove that, Little Miss Scarlet? You'd have to run your fingers through my hair to determine that.' He smirked at me and I scowled.

'Wanker.' I muttered and he laughed.

* * *

It was 9 pm on a Thursday and Remus and I were on Prefect duty. The two of us wandered through the corridors on the 7th floor looking for miscreants. We found some in a broom cupboard and Remus had to turn away in embarrassment because one of the miss demeaning students was only in a bra and knickers. As an unfazed individual, I dished out the necessary punishments and sent them on their way. Remus returned to my side as we began moving once more.

'You'd think you'd be used to stuff like that considering we've been prefects since 5th year.' I said as we turned the corner.

'Haha.' Remus responded. 'You'd think you'd b-' He stopped speaking abruptly as his eyes fell upon something in front of us. I followed his gaze and saw Severus strolling in our direction.

'Look who it is.' Severus drawled and I stiffened at the cold expression he wore. 'The Mudblood and The Monster.'

In about two seconds I had strode the distance between the two of us and grabbed him roughly by the front of his robes. I dragged him towards me and pressed my wand tip at the point where his oily forehead met his hooked nose.

'Say that again.' I growled. Behind me I heard Remus mutter something under his breath. Severus met my gaze. 'Go on. I dare you.'

'The Mudblood and The Monster.'

'Listen, Severus.' I spat pushing my wand harder against his glabella. 'I couldn't care less what you call me but the second you call Remus _that_ I have a problem. The only monster here is you and your stupid self.'

'He's not a monster?' Severus asked snidely. 'Not even after he mauled you, your friends and a baby. _Your_ Godson.' I heard Remus' intake of breath. 'You haven't told him?'

'That's neither here nor there.' I snapped.

'I must say I rather enjoyed watching. It was quite a show.' Severus sneered and any control I still had left.

'You want to be careful, Severus,' I hissed so that Remus couldn't hear. 'Because I will not hesitate to report you to the Headmaster.'

'Please do enlighten me as to why that's a threat.'

'I know for a fact that you are part of the group responsible for the attacks.' I began but continued to keep my voice low. 'I have proof that you helped plan them, I know that you invented the spell performed on each victim and you just admitted to me that you were there when the Girls and I found Oliver which you wouldn't have been if you weren't involved.' For a second, I saw Severus' eyes widen fearfully before they returned to their emotionless selves.

'Does your blood-traitor boyfriend know that? I know you and Precious Potter are out solving the mystery.' He sneered. My silent glare gave him his answer. 'Oh, he doesn't? How interesting…'

'You know-'

'No, no. This is my turn to talk. You want to be careful with who you're threatening. Now we know how much you know, we'll show you just how serious we are. You're the one whose in danger not me so remember that before you start trying to scare me.'

'Oh, I know you're all messed up wankers but believe me when I say that anymore of this and I'll start reporting you one by one. Then we'll see whose serious.' I glowered at Severus for a second longer before thrusting him back on to the floor. 'That'll be 2 weeks worth of detentions for inappropriate language.' I said with my voice returning to a volume Remus could hear. 'And we'll add two more detentions on to that for scruffy uniform.' I tugged Remus into moving. 'Come on Remus.'

When we were two corridors away Remus stopped and pulled me to face him.

'When exactly were you going to tell me that I attacked you?' He asked, his voice distant. I sighed sadly.

'We weren't going to tell you.' I said honestly. 'And you didn't attack anyone.'

'Oh really?' Remus gave a bitter laugh. 'Because Snape made it perfectly clear that I-'

'Mauled us?' I finished and folded my arms. 'You were unconscious before you could hurt anyone.'

'Sure.'

'I'm so flattered you believe Severus over me.' I snapped.

'Well, considering you weren't going to tell me, I think I quite justified in believing his word over yours.' Remus retorted.

'For Merlin's sake!' I cried in irritation. 'You…didn't…hurt…us!'

'I forgot – I was unconscious before I could attack you.' He said mockingly and I glowered at him. Thinking fast, I dragged Remus down another corridor and stopped in front of a blank space of wall. I paced in front of it focusing on what I needed and soon a door appeared which I opened and pushed Remus through. Following swiftly, I shut the door behind us. The Room of Requirement had formed a small circular room with a silvery basin. We moved towards it and I pointed my wand to my temple. Gently, I pulled it away and with my wand came a silvery strand which I put in the basin.

'If you refuse to listen then I'll have to show you.' I said and Remus understood what I wanted him to do. He put his head in the basin and a few seconds later I did the same. The two of us fell through pitch black into my memory.

We watched as the werewolf moved towards the Girls and I and saw how Remus never once hurt us as we stopped him with spells and fire. We watched until the memory moved to the Girls and I flying away at which point I tugged Remus' arm and we found ourselves seconds later in the circular room once more.

'Believe me now?' I asked softly as I transferred the memory back into my mind.

'H-h-how did you know to do that?' Remus asked stunned. 'That song…how?'

'I found a book which mentioned it.'

'Thanks Lily.' He smiled slightly. 'I owe you.'

'For what?'

'For showing me the truth.'

'There's no price for that.' I patted his back. 'Come on. I reckon our patrol's over now.'

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Writer's block is the absolute worst so I hope this didn't turn out to be a bad chapter.**

 **Please Review :)**


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

 **A/N: We're back in Jily land again! Yay! I hope you enjoyed last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

It had been an all-round miserable day; Marlene and Kieran had argued, Mary and Andrew had argued, Alice and Frank had argued, Mary, Marlene and Alice had argued and as if to add to the arguing, the sky had joined in by conducting a shouting match of its own. The rain poured, the lightning struck and the thunder rumbled. With tempers running high I decided to take solstice on one of the Astronomy Towers and made my way slowly but surely towards my destination. The corridors of Hogwarts had once brought great comfort to me. Up until 4th year they had been my way of escape on days like these. There were so many corridors I could easily lose myself so that for at least a few hours I would be unfound and have solitude from the drama of my friendship group. But in 5th year they steadily grew unwelcoming and became the places of terrible incidents. The events that haunted these corridors made them cold and eerie.

That was partially why I now went to the Astronomy Towers or the Founder's Library. They didn't hold any such memories and there were no portraits to spread my secrets. If I cried, no one would know. If I shouted, no one would know. And if I raged, no one would know. I was not in a particularly emotional mood but I wanted to clear my head and as I climbed the Tower's staircase I grew and grew in speed with my eagerness to be full alone.

But I was not alone when I reached the balcony. Someone stood on top of the wall bracing themselves to jump.

'Tom?' I asked, my voice scared. The person looked around and their face confirmed my question. It was Tom alright but there was something wrong with his face. His eyes didn't look filled with laughter as they always did, instead they were glassy and unfocused. 'Tom…'

'Go away, Lily.' He said and turned back to face the grounds.

'I don't understand…Why are you…' I paused. 'Why don't you step down from there? W-we could go get some hot chocolate or something…'

'I said go away.'

'Tom…you're scaring me. Come down from there – it isn't safe.'

'And why should I? There's nothing to come back down to.' He answered and bent his knees a little more.

'Tom…Everything going to be okay if you just get down from there.'

'No its not!' He spat. 'I'm scum! Everyone chooses me second. George chooses his girlfriend over me. I'm his best mate! You chose Potter over me. We were dating way before he stopped being a git to you! And society chooses purebloods over me too.'

'That is not true.' I said. 'You're everyone's equal. You're my friend even if things didn't work out with us dating and I never chose James over you. People aren't limited to the number of friends they can have, you know. I care about you as does George as does everyone in Hufflepuff an-'

'You're lying!' He shouted and I stepped back slightly startled. 'Even when we were dating it was Potter this! and Potter that! You never shut up about him and then when we split up you said you didn't feel anything for me anymore. You cheated on me with Potter!'

'Tom…' I whispered. 'You know that's not true. Just come down from there. Please…' And for a moment he seemed to wrestle with himself before he turned around once more and faced me. His expression was scared and his eyes no longer glazed over.

'I know it's not true but…but I can't fight it. They're making me and I can't fight back.' He whimpered before his eyes glazed over as they were before and he fell back. Down…

'NO!' I yelled with a strangled cry and ran to the wall. I leaned over it and pointed my wand at Tom's falling figure. 'Accio jumper!' I bellowed and as the spell summoned the jumper it dragged its owner up with it. For a split second, everything was fine as Tom zoomed upwards. Then a force began sucking him downwards and as I willed my summoning charm to be stronger. I thought for a moment that it worked but then whatever unknown force was pulling him downwards grew stronger and with a crunch that was heard even over the pounding rain Tom hit the ground. 'TOM!'

I sprinted down stair after stair and through corridor after corridor until I reached the grounds. I pelted through the rain to the base of the tower where Tom lay in a crumpled mess of blood and robes.

'Tom!' I cried shaking him. 'Don't be dead! Please don't be dead!' I shook him again and his eyelids flickered open.

'L-Lily?' He mumbled.

'Stay with me Tom! Stay with me!' I instructed. 'I'm getting help.' With my wand I sent Themis to fetch Madame Pomfrey before returning to keeping Tom conscious.

* * *

A few hours later and I sat in the Hospital Wing by Tom's bedside. He was under the influence of a dreamless sleep potion and therefore slept soundly as the thunder crashed and rolled outside the windows. A flash of lightning illuminated his sleeping face and I hugged my knees into my chest. My eyes saddened as I looked at Tom. But as I stared my vision changed his face to James', my heart rate picked up and there were tears pouring down my cheeks. I blinked. And everything returned to how it was before.

The storm continued throughout the night and every attempt Madame Pomfrey made to persuade me to go back to my dormitory or at the very least sleep in a bed in the Hospital Wing I declined. I insisted on sitting by Tom's side and point blank refused the food Madame Pomfrey brought me in case it would distract me. It was fear that kept me awake and watchful. I was scared someone would try and attack Tom while he slept. Deep down my thoughts told me it was my fault because had I never involved myself in any of the previous attacks then the group behind them wouldn't have targeted people close to me. First Mary and Ollie and now Tom.

My eyelids drooped slightly but I slapped my cheek to stop them closing. The storm that raged on outside was my constant company and with every flash of lightning I would be jerked once more into full wakefulness. Every creak from the inside of the ward would make the hairs stand up on my neck, make my fingers curl tighter round my wand. I was guarding Tom because something in my gut told me that _they_ might try again.

' _They're making me and I can't fight back.' Tom's echoing voice whimpered. His mangled body lay before me with blood pouring out of every nook and cranny. Then a shadow loomed over him and I looked up to see James standing over him with a dagger in his hand._

' _Finish the deed, Potter.' A voice hissed through the air as James raised the dagger ready to plunge it in Tom's heart. 'Do it. You know you want to. He's the only thing in your way between you and her.'_

' _That's not true, James.' I cried. 'Don't do it! Don't do it!' I pleaded and tried to shield Tom's body from the blade._

' _I know it's not true but…I can't fight it.' James whispered and plunged the dagger down._

' _NO!' I yelled as I dived in front of Tom and the dagger went straight into my chest._

I awoke with a start as someone shook my shoulders.

'Miss Evans!' Madame Pomfrey cried and pressed a glass of water into my hands. 'You should have taken the dreamless sleep potion I offered. Trauma results in the worst kinds of dreams.'

'You're telling me.' I muttered before taking a sip of water. The liquid was refreshing against my throat. She then produced a tray of food for me and fussed around me while I ate. Tom still lay sleeping soundly and as I watched he rolled over in his sleep. I pushed my cereal around my bowl for a moment before eating a spoonful. 'What time is it?'

'5.04 am.' She answered. 'You've been asleep for about 2 hours. Maybe you should go back to your dormitory. I'll give you some dreamless seep potion and you can have a long sleep. It's Saturday so you won't miss any classes.'

'You'll watch Tom?'

'Yes, Miss Evans.' Madame Pomfrey sighed. 'Now off to your dormitory.'

I reluctantly agreed and made my way back to Gryffindor Tower. Silently, I crept through the common room and up the girls' staircase into my dormitory. My roommates slept deeply and yet ghost of their argument seemed to sit smugly in the air. I crawled into my own bed and tried to ignore the dream that was threatening to make another appearance.

When the time for dinner came along, I declined the offer to sit in the middle of all the arguing couples and opted to visit Tom instead. James decided he needed to escort me there but said he would wait outside while I spoke to Tom. So I walked into the Hospital Wing wondering what I would say to him. When I reached his bed, I saw he had got up and was pacing up and down.

'Tom!' I said. 'How are you feeling?'

'Great.' He answered scowling at the floor.

'Right…So are yo-'

'I'm going home, Lily.' He said abruptly.

'For a visit?'

'For forever.'

'B-but…'

'I can't stand much longer in this shithole.' He burst out. 'Every day there's someone muttering about me being a mudblood and about how I should just go back to where I came from. I miss the muggle world, I miss how normal everything is there and I miss not being judged for my blood or whatever the Hell everyone's problem is. What happened yesterday proved that.'

'Y-y-you don't mean that.'

'I do mean that.' He retorted. 'I'm not brave like you Lily. When people say all that pureblood and mudblood stuff it gets to me. Ever since I stepped into Hogwarts it's been made clear to me that I'm not welcome here but you stand up to that stuff. I can't. So don't try and persuade me to stay Lily! I've made up my mind!' Tom stormed out of the ward with the doors swinging behind him.

'I'm not brave.' I whispered as James came in looking baffled.

'What was that about?' I didn't answer but simply rushed past him and moved as fast as I could towards the grounds. Swiftly, I made my way to my spot at the lake, far far away from the Castle. I sat down on a large rock as some tears escaped my eyes. I hated this stupid pureblood mania. Tom and I had only just become friends again and now he was leaving. He was leaving because of the stupid people behind the stupid attacks. Severus was one of them. I needed to report him but…The stupid part of my brain stopped me from reporting him. I knew I had to and I knew I should but I couldn't.

Something shifted behind me and I whipped around to see a stag moving tentatively towards me. I hurriedly wiped my tears away as the stag stood beside me. Lily Evans did not cry in front of anyone.

'So you're animagi, huh?' I asked with a small smile and looked over at the Lake. 'I'm impressed, _James_.' There was the sound of spluttering.

'How did you know it was me?' James stuttered after transforming back into his human form.

'No real stag would approach a human.' I answered simply.

'Right.'

'And I worked out you, Sirius and Peter were animagi a few weeks ago. Took me much longer then it should've done. I mean, your nicknames aren't exactly subtle.'

'No one else has worked it out.' James pointed out indignantly.

'I suppose but seriously Mooney? Isn't that really obvious? Padfoot… I'll give you that one but once you know what you're looking for Prongs and Wormtail aren't hard to work out.'

'So how did you work it out?' James asked and stretched before putting his arm around me. I ignored the way my heart rate seemed to speed when his arm rested around my shoulders. 'Enlighten me, Miss Evans.' He squeezed my shoulder.

'I've been curious for a long time about how you lot hang around with Remus at the full moon and when I did research into how I could help him I came across the idea to become an animagus. But I knew I wouldn't be able to do it so I forgot all about it. Your patronus is often the animal you transform into but your animagus form never changes unlike your patronus. My first patronus was a baby elephant which would hardly have been helpful during the full moon. And if it's changed now what's to say it wasn't something different before I could even cast a corporeal patronus.'

'Okay but that doesn't explain how.'

'It was something Sirius said. He said it was his job to be a dog not yours when you shook water out of your hair. Then everything just clicked.'

'Oh.' James was silent for a moment and I kept my gaze on the Lake's smooth and unbroken sheen. 'What did you mean by your first patronus?'

'Well, when I first cast a corporeal patronus it was a baby elephant. I named him Arnold.' I smiled to myself as I remembered Arnold. He'd been my companion since the day I'd cast a patronus and always there to make me feel better. 'Then around December last year I realised he'd changed into a doe.' I focused on a happy memory and cast my patronus. 'This is Themis.'

'I-it's a doe.' James breathed.

'Yeah, I just-' I stopped speaking as James cast his own patronus and a silvery stag appeared before us. It nuzzled Themis affectionately and the two deer began chasing each other playfully. 'Yours is a stag…' I finally looked at James. He was watching me with a strange expression that made my stomach flip. 'You know what?' I said standing up. 'We should head back inside. It's getting dark.'

'You alright, Lils?' James asked concernedly.

'I'll be fine in a minute.' I answered and began walking briskly back to the castle. He hurried after me.

'What's wrong, Lils? You can tell me.' James asked softly and his face of concern made all the chocolate frogs I'd ever eaten hop in my stomach.

'It's nothing.' I said firmly and headed for the nearest girls' bathroom. James was forced to wait outside while I dealt with my random bout of insanity. I walked over to one of the sinks and splashed cold water in my face before staring at my reflection. 'Get it together Lily.' I said to my reflection. 'This is James. He's your mate. Mates do not cause temporary insanity.'

My reflection looked back at me with concern. I had never felt like this before. There was something wrong with me.

'James is just James. He's not some strange creature inducing amphibians to live inside you. The problem is you and you need to get it together.' I told myself and turned away from the mirror. Slowly, I headed out of the loos and smiled at James who was leaning against the corridor wall twirling his wand. He caught sight of me and hastily put his wand in his back pocket. 'You know wizards have lost buttocks that way.'

'And would you miss my buttocks?' James asked with a smirk playing about his features. I felt my cheeks heat up slightly.

'Well, it might make it easier to remove your head from your sphincter but other than that…'

'Then you must be an exception because I could name several people who would miss them.'

'Point them out to me and I'll believe you.' I responded sweetly.

'Let's get back to the common room before you insult me further.' He said and the two of us made our way back to Gryffindor Tower continuing our banter.

* * *

At Second Breakfast on Sunday issues between couples and friends seemed to have been resolved but I was still wary to avoid conversation. Instead I focused on my water which I sipped silently. Unfortunately, my attention drifted elsewhere as my gaze moved to James who was sitting further up the table reading the Daily Prophet. He frowned at whatever he was reading and ruffled his hair agitatedly. His hair really was messy…

My hand accidently knocked against my water and the goblet fell over spilling water across the table cloth. Shaking my head slightly, I began cleaning up the mess I'd made. Once I was done I decided to take a trip to the Library to clear my thoughts. Upon entering the Library, I saw how busy it was with students doing last minute homework before Monday and decided I need complete solitude. I headed to the back of the Library and after looking around to check no one was watching I whispered the password and the Founder's Library revealed its entrance. Slowly, I walked in and closed the door behind me.

The floating gold lights threw a warm glow over the room and I traced my fingers along a bookshelf before choosing a book and settling down to read. I needed a distraction.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. My writer's block is slowly shifting so that's good.**

 **Please Review :)**


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

 **A/N: We're in spring in Jily land so that that's good. I hope wherever you are it's nice weather.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The day of James' birthday arrived with mild weather but unluckily for him coincided with the apparition test for all those 6th years who were already 17. So those of us taking the test lined up in the Entrance Hall and I had to put up with James grumbling about this being the worst present ever. Sirius snickered behind him and Remus tried to keep a straight face. Even when I glowered at them they struggled before bursting into howls of laughter. It wasn't even that funny but I had to agree that James' pout was hilariously adorable. Peter, Alice, Marlene and Mary too chuckled at his expression and it took a lot of willpower to stop myself joining in.

'Cheer up, James.' I said squeezing his hand. 'Just think of it as an excuse to visit Hogsmeade. Once you've done your test you're allowed to walk around the village.'

'It's still a test.' He answered disgruntled. I opened my mouth to reply but decided against it as we began making our way out of the castle and in the direction of the village.

'D'you want your present now?' I asked in an attempt to get his head in a more positive mindset.

'You didn't have to get me a present you know.'

'Course I didn't. I got you a present out of the goodness of my own heart.' I pulled his present out of my bag and handed him the large package. James stared at it for a moment with a smile twitching at his lips. 'What?'

'I'm just thinking about how a year ago I could only have dreamt about you giving me a birthday present.'

'That would've been a pretty strange dream.' I mused. 'Now open your present.'

Carefully, James began prising open the wrapping paper. I had always envisaged James to be one of those people who just ripped through wrapping paper and yet there he was taking his time. However, I'd seen him this morning at Second Breakfast that he'd ripped open the presents he'd been given. I'd saved giving my present for the way to Hogsmeade.

'Lils…' He breathed as he pulled out his present. James held it out before him and stopped dead in the path. 'How…'

'I made them.' I shrugged. 'I couldn't afford to buy-' I broke off as James pulled me into an unexpected hug. He lifted me off the ground with his embrace and spun me around in the air. When he put me down again I knew I was scarlet in the face.

'They're amazing.' He said holding the present before him again as we began walking again. What I had made James was a set of Gryffindor Quidditch robes with _Potter_ and _2_ printed in gold on the back.

'They should be the right size, I mean, I used the ones the school provides as a guide. Sirius nicked the ones you wear for me to use but I added a pocket for your wand so they're not an exact replica.'

'I never knew you could sew.'

'What can I say? I'm a mysterious person.' I grinned up at him and he rolled his eyes.

'Thanks, Lils.' James smiled at me and the two of us looked at each other for a moment. 10 minutes later and we had arrived in Hogsmeade. The people doing the test were done in alphabetical order so my turn came quickly. As my name was called I stepped forward with a deep breath.

'Miss Evans,' The Examiner addressed me. 'I want you to apparate to Madame Puddifoot's and wait there until I reach you.' I nodded and tugged at my plait.

'Destination. Determination. Deliberation.' I muttered to myself and spun on the spot focusing my mind on the horribly pink teashop. Instantly, I felt as though I was being forced through an extremely thin tube whilst simultaneously bloating to the size of an elephant. As soon as the sensation stopped I looked around me and saw I was outside the teashop. The Examiner arrived with a loud crack beside me and roved their eyes over me trying to see if I'd splinched myself. As far as I could tell, I hadn't and after a minute of scrutinizing the Examiner reached the same verdict.

'Very good, Miss Evans.' The Examiner smiled. 'You've passed. Your teachers have said you may spend the rest of the day in Hogsmeade so you can now enjoy the rest of your day. If you wish to wait for your friends may I suggest you wait by the Three Broomsticks. We wouldn't want them thinking the test was nothing to worry about.'

'Of course.' I grinned her and _apparated_ to the Three Broomsticks entrance. I apparated! I was of age and now I could also apparate. Hehe. I loitered outside the Three Broomsticks and one by one my friends joined me with big smiles plastered on their faces. The Girls and I left the Marauders to sit at our own table. With butterbeers in hand we settled down to chat or unfortunately for me, gossip.

'Did you know that Amelia Bones hexed Harriet Ross?' Mary asked with a voice that sounded like she thought hexing students were the best thing in the world.

'No, Mary.' I said dully. 'Please, tell us more about it.' Marlene snorted into her tankard.

'I heard they had a proper cat fight. Scratching and everything.' Alice said thoughtfully. 'Apparently, Amelia pulled out a clump of Ross' hair.'

'If she did it was probably just her cheap as fuck hair extensions.' Marlene added.

'I don't know what kind of sex your soliciting,' I began mildly. 'But I wouldn't call hair extensions cheap.' Mary chuckled and Alice grinned as Marlene scowled at me.

'Anyway,' Mary said. 'They were fighting because Harriet Ross slept with Amelia's boyfriend.'

'No she fucking didn't!' Marlene said wide eyed. 'Wh-with George Abbott? No fucking way! That boy would know infidelity if it danced naked in front of him.'

'Oh yes she did.' Mary said nodding smugly. 'Who'd have thought he'd have it in him, eh?'

'Who'd have thought Marls knows big words like infidelity?' I said and ducked as Marlene aimed a swipe at my head.

'George and Amelia always seemed so perfect with each other.' Alice said sadly.

'Amelia didn't want to lose her v-card until marriage and George must've wanted sex.' Mary said in explanation.

'Well, it's not hard to get a shag round here. Not with bloody Ross around. The only way she could be more fucking obvious is if she walked around starkers. She already dresses like a ruddy stripper on weekends.'

'Well, if ever you need some sexy lingerie for a date night she's the one to call.' I said trying to be nice.

'Lily, if you need some lingerie I have loads you can borrow.' Mary told me pointedly.

'What the Hell does that have to do with anything?' I asked confused that her statement was directed at me. The other three groaned into their butterbeers.

'You know what?' Alice said exasperatedly. 'The boys can tell her.'

'Tell who?' I asked completely baffled.

'I saw Amelia yesterday.' Mary said determinedly. 'She looked alright but I reckon she's probably quite upset.'

'You surprise me.' I muttered and took a sip of my butterbeer.

'Most guys are so shag orientated.' Alice said disgustedly.

'You're telling me.' Marlene grumbled. 'When I was dating Patrick that was usually the only thing he wanted to do. He deserves the nickname dickhead through and through.'

'Well, he is a fuckboy.' Mary pointed out. 'There's a reason they're called that.'

'True. I'm glad I dumped him.' Marlene said with a smile and I immediately knew she was starting to daydream about Kieran.

'We've got good blokes.' Mary said smiling also.

'Anyone got anymore gossip?' Alice asked.

'OOOH!' Marlene practically shouted and we all had to shush her. 'I've got something. Freya McMillan shagged Daniel Jackson.'

'And how exactly do you know this?' I asked grumpily.

'Harriet Ross was talking about it at breakfast.' Marlene explained.

'Freya was always so innocent and then in 5th year she just exploded into this…' Alice said.

'Slag?' Mary suggested.

'It's what happens to some people I suppose. They keep themselves pure but are desperate to be cool or whatever and then one day they get a taste of letting loose and can't get enough.' Alice said as if she were an expert on understanding people.

'Daniel Jackson isn't that bad though. There's a chance they'll get together.' I said fairly and Marlene snorted.

'Freya McMillan doesn't do relationships. She's like the covered-up version of Harriet Ross.'

'How about we look round some of the shops?' I asked hoping to change topic. The others nodded and we headed out of the pub. I waved to the Marauders on the way out and as they grinned back Sirius muttered something to James who went scarlet and spilled his butterbeer. Boys…

* * *

That afternoon we returned to the castle. The Girls were laden with shopping because now we could apparate they wouldn't have to walk to the castle from Hogsmeade and could carry lots of shopping. Unfortunately for them, they forgot you couldn't apparate within the Hogwarts grounds and had to walk from the grounds entrance to the Entrance Hall with me laughing at them every step of the way. Upon reaching the Entrance Hall, we bumped into Andrew with Oliver and immediately Mary dumped him with her shopping and took Oliver. The 5 of us headed up the staircase and it was then that someone called my name.

'Lily!' Sirius yelled from the bottom of the staircase. Remus stood with him. 'We need to talk to you!' Slowly, I backtracked down the stairs.

'Yes?' I asked.

'We'd better do this in private.' Remus said and the two of them dragged me out into the castle grounds. When Remus had said in private he must have meant a very different private to what I had in mind because by the time the two of them had stopped pulling me we were at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

'Was this really necessary?' I asked exasperated and indicated around us.

'Yes.' Sirius answered stoutly.

'Okay…'

'We wanted to talk to you because we've noticed how you've been behaving around Prongs.' Remus began.

'And we were wondering if you had something to tell us?' Sirius finished. I frowned at the two of them.

'What d'you mean by having something to tell you?'

'Do you like Prongs? As in like like him.' Remus asked.

'D-do I like James? Not like that no. I mean, we're just friends. He's amazing and I really care about him but not like that. I'm boring and like rules and he's adventurous and loves breaking rules. He's way more exciting than me, more fun, and just…just James. He wouldn't want to date someone like me.'

'So, you don't like him?' Sirius checked.

'No. I…' I paused. Did I like James? I trusted him more than anyone I knew and had already confided in him. He was funny and could always bring a smile to my face. But was I attracted to him? No. Of course not. We were just friends. Then unbidden into my mind came James' lopsided smile from Christmas Eve. Then came his puppy eyes. Then his pout from this morning. And then that feeling of frogs in my stomach. I really hated myself sometimes. 'Shit. I like him, don't I?'

'Yup.' Remus agreed with a grin.

'And with a passion that burns brighter than a hundred suns!' Sirius declared dramatically. Remus and I both glared at him.

'You're not going to tell him, are you?' I asked a little panicked.

'Course not.' Sirius reassured me.

'Good, good.' I said relaxing. 'I don't want to ruin our friendship because of my stupid crush.'

* * *

That night I lay awake staring at the canopy of my four-poster bed. The dormitory was silent, except for Alice's occasional snuffles, and I took a deep breath.

'Guys?' I asked into the dark.

'Mmm?' Came Marlene's response.

'Whaaat?' Alice asked into her pillow.

'I like James.'

'Is that fucking it?' Marlene asked in disgust. 'You woke me up to tell me that. I've known that since Mary's wedding.'

'How could you've known that? I only realised today…'

'Because you two are perfect for each other.' Alice said happily.

'I think you're getting ahead of yourself, Al. James doesn't like me back in that way.'

'BULLSHIT!' Marlene yelled from her bed and by the sounds of it sat up. A second later and she was pulling open the curtains around my four-poster and plonking herself on my bed. 'Al, come to Lily's bed. We're doing story time.'

'We're doing what?' I asked sitting up as Alice seated herself on the bed also.

'Story time.' Alice said.

'Exactly. Now shut the fuck up.' Marlene snapped. 'Once upon a time, there was a boy called James Potter. He was an absolute wanker but despite this, loads of girls and some guys had huge crushes on him. Potter however, was only interested in one girl, though he hooked up with loads of other girls in the meantime, and she didn't like him – rightfully so. This girl was called Lily Evans.'

'W-'

'Last time I checked, Lily, I was telling the fucking story so don't interrupt.' Marlene said and I huffed in annoyance. This was why I never admitted my feelings for people. Being treated to story time with Marlene was always a slightly terrifying experience. 'Potter really liked Lily but he was a complete tosser to her so his friends and her friends decided they would make sure Lily didn't say yes to any of his requests to take her on a date. Lily was the kind of person who would agree go on a date with someone she hated because she'd feel too bad rejecting them. So, for years and years the friends encouraged Lily to think Potter's asking her out was a joke so that she wouldn't say yes. He was a prick and didn't deserve to date her until he'd matured and the friends waited for that day to come. When it finally came, Lily and Potter became friends and they continued to develop feelings for each other. And to this day they live in fucking denial of the other's feelings for them.'

'You're lying.' I said lying back down. 'I'd know if James liked me.'

'Lily, no offence but you are the most blind person I've ever me when it comes to Potter.' Alice told me. 'You are the only person in the entire world who believed he was joking whenever he asked you out.'

'Lily!' Marlene groaned. 'Take today as your example. Have you ever seen Potter hug anyone like he hugged you?'

'Just because I haven't seen it doesn't mean it's never happened.' I answered lamely.

'Lily, you know I'm right. Can't you just accept he likes you back?'

'I don't know… I just find it hard to believe someone like him would like someone like me.'

'Lily, you are absolutely stunning.' Alice insisted. 'You just need to realise that.' She turned to Marlene. 'I reckon that's what the problem is.'

'No shit.' Marlene said and the two of them looked back at me. 'Tomorrow we're all getting up at 6 am. Al, you'll go get Mary and then we'll all get Lily ready.'

'Oh no… Not a makeover…' I whispered weakly and the other two laughed.

* * *

The next morning the others woke up at six as promised. It felt very much like the time we had done Alice up in 5th year except this time I was the victim. Alice came back with Mary at around 20 past by which time I had already got dressed and washed my face.

'Sorry, Ollie didn't have a good start this morning.' Mary apologised. She looked me up and down. 'What we thinking, Girls?'

'The skirt for a start.' Alice said and the others nodded. I clutched my school skirt defensively.

'What's wrong with my skirt? It's on the knee…'

'What are you? A fucking first year?' Marlene asked and rolled my skirt up so it was about two inches above the knee. 'I would go higher but you're not going to comfortable with that, are you, Miss Prefect?'

'Babes, your hair is not going in that braid.' Mary said and pulled out my hair tie. She then set about styling a messy bun with my hair. Whilst my hair was being pulled and pushed, Alice insisted I wore some eyeliner and pressed the liquid liner into my hands along with a compact mirror. I completed the rest of my make up once my hair was done and then was pulled in front of a full-length mirror.

I looked into the mirror. It was still me, as it always was, but I felt prettier even if in reality I looked just the same.

'Remember,' Alice began. 'Act like yourself.'

'Be confident.' Mary added.

'And don't be weird.' Marlene said. 'No one likes that.'

'Thanks, Marls.' I said grumpily and she grinned at me. The four of us made our way down to the Great Hall. As we reached the doors the Girls stopped.

'We'll go in first and then you can make a separate entrance.' They disappeared off into the Hall and I waited for a moment and decided I might as well get out my Potions book because I'd been planning to annotate some of the recipes during breakfast. Deciding I'd waited long enough, I walked into the Great Hall. The Girls had seated themselves with their significant others and so Mary sat with Andrew and Oliver at one end of the table and Alice sat with Frank and Marlene with Kieran at the other end. Those crafty little bastards!

I contemplated sitting by myself just to annoy them but then resigned my fate to sitting with the Marauders. Trying not to look like I hated my life, I made my way to where the Marauders sat. I greeted the four of them and sat down next to James. Nervous didn't even begin to explain how I felt and I determinately pulled the cereal towards me and poured into my bowl. Why was I so fucking nervous? I was Lily Evans! A bloody Gryffindor. The girl who refused to be intimidated by the attackers. And she was scared of a crush. I added milk to my cereal and put a spoonful of my breakfast to my mouth.

'You're eating.' James pointed out.

'Really?' I asked with mock surprise. 'I had no idea.'

'I just meant you never eat breakfast at this time. You always eat earlier.'

'I was busy earlier.' I said by way of an explanation. My gaze remained doggedly on my breakfast. After I'd finished, I quickly stood up and decided I would be safer in the dormitory. Unfortunately, James stood up also and announced he was escorting me to Gryffindor Tower. We passed Mary on the way out and she winked at me. I glowered at her in response and made my way out of the Hall in a sulky manner.

'So…You're skirt's shorter today.' James stated with a smirk. Trying to control my blush I met his gaze.

'The span of your intelligence is also shorter today and yet that shouldn't be commented on either.' I responded. It wasn't my best retort but at least I didn't stutter. 'I was instructed to roll it up.'

'Right.'

'Something about not being a first year.'

'And how does the length of your skirt show your age?'

'I'd ask someone fashionable if I were you. I don't know this stuff.' I shrugged. 'I just do what the Girls tell me. They know this kind of thing.' We walked in silence for a moment.

'I can't believe the Quidditch final's in just a few weeks.'

'Nervous?'

'No. Potters don't-'

'Get nervous or scared for that matter.' I grinned at him as he stuck out his tongue.

'I've got no need to be nervous. You'll be wearing my lucky scarf and I'll be wearing a custom-made set of Quidditch robes.'

'Who says I'll wear your lucky scarf?' I challenged with a smile.

'Oh, I can be very persuasive.' James smirked at me and I raised an eyebrow.

'I find that very hard to believe.' The bell rang. 'Well, there's go my plans of going to the dormitory. To Potions class we go!'

'You're so weird.' James said with a chuckled. Marlene's words echoed in my head but I ignored them.

'I prefer the term unique.' I quipped and offered my arm to James. The two of us turned around and headed to the dungeons arm in arm.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Did you like that chapter? Lily's finally realised she likes James. Hurray! I wasn't sure about Lily's birthday present for James. I couldn't really think of anything else but I kind of like it.**

 **Please Review :)**


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

 **A/N: Lily finally realised her feelings for James so that's a start. Not a hundred percent where this chapter is going but we'll find out. For anyone wondering, yes I do write this author's note before I write the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

'So, she wants us to draw a fucking dick in the air?' Marlene asked, disgusted, in our Transfiguration lesson. I snickered for a moment before remembering I was a 17-year-old witch and not a boy who'd just reached puberty.

'It does make it a memorable spell.' I responded mildly. 'And I don't think your dick should be shagging anything. That's probably an entirely different spell.'

'Why do we always end up saying shit like this?' Marlene wondered as we chuckled at how weird my statement had sounded.

'Magic.' And the two of us laughed harder. Behind us we heard Sirius and James.

'Yeah mine's at least 7 inches.' Sirius said offhandedly.

'That's nothing.' James scoffed. 'Mine's 8 inches.'

'8 inches,' I muttered to Marlene. 'Bit optimistic, don't you think?' She snorted so loudly that several people looked around at us including Alice and Mary who were in front of us. The two of us continued to cackle for a long time and as neither of us offered an explanation people turned away with disinterest.

'Not going to lie, if Kieran's dick was that big I would tell him to fuck off. There's no fucking way something that big is coming in my fanny. I mean, most vaginas are like…umm…'

'3 to 4 inches.' I said and Marlene stared at me. 'What? I want to be a healer and that means I've read many books on the human body.'

'But you get my point.'

'I'm a virgin but yes I'll agree with you. The prospect of something twice as big is not inviting.' Marlene nodded.

'You know, I've always meant to ask you. Are you waiting till marriage or not?'

'I don't know.' I said with a shrug. 'I just want to trust whoever it's with and I don't want it to happen in a broom cupboard.'

'It's not that bad.' She assured me. 'And I had it pretty shit. I mean, I lost it fucking Sam Davis for Merlin's sake. You can't get much worse than that.'

'I'm sure he'll appreciate that.'

'I don't really give a shit what he thinks.'

For a moment, we practiced our spell and celebrated as we achieved the point of the spell. The spell was transfiguring animals into their young counterparts. Having mastered transforming toads into tadpoles we moved onto nifflers (they were in small cages for the benefit of the condition of the classroom). Marlene swore as her niffler grew grey with age.

'Don't worry Marls,' I said loudly. 'If you can't master the spell. Al, is an expert in niffler breeding and could easily get you a niffler pup.'

'Lily Evans!' Alice yelled from in front of me and attempted to send a hex at me. I ducked as I laughed and heard James swear behind me as the spell hit him instead. Alice, Mary and Marlene all joined in with my laughter at that and it took Professor McGonagall coming over to our tables to bring a halt to our cackles.

Once we'd calmed down, we returned to our individual work.

'So, Lily,' Marlene began but was interrupted.

'Lils!' James hissed from behind me. I turned around to face him. 'Can you fix the burn on my face?'

'You don't want to keep it? I'd of thought you'd want to keep it to look tough.' I grinned. 'Sure, I'll fix it but you've got to ask nicely.'

'Can you fix it, please?' I nodded and pulled his face gently towards me. Then I tilted his head so I could see the burn better and flicked my wand. At once the burn was healed and I hastily let go of his face.

'There you go. Good as new.'

'Thanks, Lils.'

'You're welcome.' And I turned back to Marlene. 'Sorry, you were saying?'

'I was asking if I could show you something.'

'Sure.' I said with a smile. Marlene fumbled in her robe pocket for a moment before pulling something out. It was silver with a blue gem at its centre. 'That's not…You're not…'

'It's a promise ring.' She said and held it out in the palm of her hand. 'Kieran gave it to me last night.'

'A promise ring…' Marlene went pink with embarrassment. 'You should definitely wear it around Mary and Al.' I said cheekily and Marlene swatted me on the head.

'I love it but it's so fucking soppy to wear one. They do that kind of thing in Mary's shitty romance books and I really don't. But I want to wear it… I'm going to get so much shit for this.'

'Is that why've you been carrying it in your pocket?' I asked and Marlene nodded.

'I knew you wouldn't laugh at me too much and I don't know what to do about it. I told Kieran I'd wear it…'

'So, you don't want to wear it?' I asked watching my friend shrewdly.

'I do…but I don't wear fucking jewellery!' Marlene cried dramatically. 'And rings are the worst!'

'Can't you make it a necklace?' I prompted.

'A necklace?'

'Yeah. You could put the ring on a chain and wear it tucked under your clothes. I wear my necklace like that.'

'Lily, you wear jewellery?' I grinned and pulled my crucifix out from under my school blouse.

'I'm just great at hiding things.'

'So, I just put it on a necklace?'

'Yes, and if Kieran has an issue with that then tell him he can…'

'Fuck off?' Marlene finished helpfully.

'Exactly.' I grinned at her again.

'You cannot tell anyone about this.' Marlene said seriously. 'Marlene Young wearing jewellery would ruin my image.'

'Well, we can't have that.' I shook my head sombrely and the two of us laughed.

* * *

At the end of the day the Girls and I were heading to the Great Hall for dinner. We were chatting about nothing in particular and I quickly zoned out. The day had been uneventful and I was actually looking forward to the Quidditch final next weekend because it would be something more exciting than the day to day life at Hogwarts. The corridors were quiet and I stared blankly at my surroundings. Was that dust on one of the suits of armour? Seriously, the caretaker needed to up his game. That was some serious dust. It was like the ice layer over the soil in the Arctic. But unlike the ice, due to global warming, it wasn't melting. Imagine dust melting…

'Lily!' Mary's voice snapped through my thoughts.

'What?' I asked still slightly out of it.

'Hips now!' She instructed. I stared at her blankly. 'The Marauders are walking behind us so sashay now! Come on! They'll be coming round the corner in a second!'

I scowled and reluctantly began to sashay along the corridor. Luckily, the Girls joined in with me so I wasn't the only one strutting. I still felt incredibly stupid and as we walked through the Great Hall I felt some eyes on us that I was not comfortable with. We reached the sanctuary of the Gryffindor Table I plonked ungracefully into my seat. I pulled the pot of soup towards me and ladled some into my bowl. Steadily, I consumed my soup and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible.

'Hey.' James said as he sat down next to me. Great.

'Hey.' I imitated with a smile and ate another spoonful of soup. Silence fell between us as we ate. James turned to talk to Peter and I continued to eat silently. I put down my spoon and ducked underneath the table to retrieve my Ancient Runes homework from my bag along with a quill and ink. I missed pens. Returning to the table, I set about translating my homework and occasionally swallowing another mouthful of soup.

 _Whales eat mandatory vegetables_. That didn't make any sense. I must have translated that wrong. I got out my textbook and flipped through it trying to find something that would help me. Nothing. Shit. Maybe I'd copied the runes down wrong at the end of the lesson… I packed my things together and stood up deciding I would find my Ancient Runes teacher and ask them for help. James glanced at me as I got up and a cough from Alice plainly told I was supposed to sashay. I sighed. As if it would make a difference if I sashayed or not.

Instead of sashaying I shuffled out of the Great Hall hoping to be unremarkable. It worked and no one disturbed me. Oh, the joys of not being a fashionable student.

* * *

By the time the Quidditch final arrived, I'd given up trying to put extra effort into my appearance. I was far too lazy to maintain that and to be honest, James would just have to deal with my normal appearance. At least that was what I told myself and the Girls. Alice and I headed to Mary's rooms to meet her. Marlene had headed to the Quidditch Pitch already as she was part of the team. Mary was putting Oliver in his pram when we arrived. Oliver gurgled happily and squirmed delightedly when I tickled him in greeting.

'He is going to be a lady killer when he's older.' I said grinning.

'Just like his dad.' Mary agreed fondly.

'We'd better get going.' Alice said and we all started making our way to the Quidditch Pitch. The weather was pleasant and the sun tickled our faces as we made our way across the grounds. I fiddled a little with James' lucky scarf as we walked.

'Apparently, there's some scouts coming to the match. Andrew told me.' Mary said as we strolled leisurely to our destination.

'Is he hoping to get scouted?' I asked interestedly.

'Yes. He's applied to work in the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry but if he gets scouted he's going for that.'

'That's so cool.' Alice said. 'We'll know someone famous!'

'I'm sure he'll get it.' I said encouragingly.

'I hope so. It means a lot to him.' Mary smiled. We had reached the stands and Alice spotted Frank who waved us over.

'I'm going to go wish James luck. I think he was kind of nervous.' I said as we reached Frank.

'I'll go with you. I can wish Andrew good luck again. I'll bet he's freaking out slightly.' Mary said.

'You can leave Ollie with us.' Alice told her and took the pram. She and Frank began cooing over the baby as Mary and I headed off in the direction of the changing rooms. We moved briskly across the grass and I wondered what exactly I was planning to say to James. The last time I'd gone to the changing rooms just before a match was in second year and it was to calm down Marlene, who was having a panic attack, before her first Quidditch match. That had been an eventful visit. Wow, we'd only been 12 then and yet I could still remember every detail of that event. It was strange how some memories we had were extremely vivid and others extremely vague. We reached the changing rooms and Mary knocked on the door.

It was opened by James, who looked at us in surprise, and he called to Andrew.

'Oi, Andrew!' He yelled into the changing room. 'Mrs Wood's here!' Andrew came a second later and the two males stepped out of the changing room and closed the door behind them. Andrew and Mary walked off to the side a little and I faced James be it a little awkwardly.

'I came to wish you luck.' I said quietly. 'I know I wished it at breakfast and I'm wearing your lucky scarf but you know…'

'Thanks, Lils.' He answered with a small smile.

'I know you said Potters don't get nervous but I reckon you're a little worried so…umm…yeah…I'm here.'

'Thanks.'

'D'you want a hug?' I asked shyly and James nodded. I wrapped my arms around him and he rested my chin on my head as he enclosed me in his arms.

'Can I tell you something?' James whispered into my hair.

'Sure.' I replied.

'I'm terrified about today's match.' His voice sounded as though he was admitting it to himself for the first time. 'Gryffindor haven't beaten Slytherin in ten years and we haven't won the cup in 11 years. I've never won a match against Slytherin and I've never played in the final. There's a scout there and if we lose we'll be messing up Andrew's chances of getting signed. I don't want to be the reason that he doesn't get it and I owe it to my team that we win. They've worked their arses off and if we don't win…'

'James,' I said softly looking up at him. 'You have a brilliant team who will fly their best like they always do. If you lose, no one will hate you and if Andrew doesn't get signed today that isn't the end of the world. It's not all his chances of becoming a professional player down the drain. Besides…' I smiled at him but he still looked apprehensive. 'I think you're an amazing Chaser.'

Something seemed to change in James' face.

'Really?'

'There's a reason you're team Captain.' I answered with a nod. 'You know one of the reasons I used to bring a book to Quidditch matches?' I asked and James shook his head. 'I brought a book so I could ignore you. I refused to admit to myself you were a good flyer so I read my book because I could block out the whole game.' Why was I telling him that? Well, that was something I'd never admitted to anyone now spoken allowed. 'What I'm trying to say is you're one of the best players in the school.'

James hugged me tighter for a moment before we broke apart.

'Thanks, Lils.' He said and there was no more fear in his face. 'I needed that.'

'It's a good job I came along.' I replied with a grin. I deliberated for a moment and then kissed James on the cheek. My own cheeks threatened to heat up and then I nudged him in the arm. 'Go get 'em, Captain!'

James grinned at me and I squeezed his hand before he re-entered the changing room. When Mary joined me a minute later I smiled at her and the two of us made our way back to the stands. We soon reached Oliver, Alice and Frank. Alice was having a slight argument with her boyfriend.

'You bet how much on Gryffindor to win?' She asked thunderously. Frank cowered a little under the steely gaze of his girlfriend.

'50 galleons.' He mumbled.

'What if we don't win?' She exclaimed angrily.

'Are you saying we won't?'

'That is not what I'm saying at all! What I mean is that there is still a chance we will lose and _if_ we do you'll have lost 50 galleons!'

'Ah, young love.' I whispered to Mary who chuckled and took Oliver from Alice who was trying to use him to make Frank admit he was in the wrong.

'Ladies and Gentlemen!' Remus' voice rang across the stands. He was commentating as usual with Peter for company. 'Welcome to the Inter-House Quidditch Final! Please put your hands together for the current champions Slytherin!'

The crowd roared as the 7 players dressed in emerald green robes shot out onto the pitch and flew a lap around the pitch before coming to the touch down in front of the referee, Madame Hooch.

'And now a roar of support for the Gryffindor Team!'

The stands went wild as the red clad figures pelted into the air and did their lap. During the lap, James did a handstand on his broom which drew whoops and gasps from the crowd.

'Show off.' I muttered with an amused smile in place. The Gryffindor Team landed and lined up opposite the Slytherin team. The two Captains shook hands and then returned to their teams for a final talk before Madame Hooch blew her whistle and all 14 players kicked off the ground. A second later, the Quaffle was thrown into the air and the game began.

Kieran snatched the Quaffle out of the air and Marlene and James followed him to form what I thought was called a Hawks Head Attacking Formation. I said as much to Mary who stared at me.

'How d'you know that?' She asked incredulously. I didn't respond instantly as Kieran scored the first goal of the match and we cheered in celebration. 0 : 10 to Gryffindor.

'I've read books on Quidditch.' I answered slightly defensively. 'COME ON, MARLS!'

Marlene was pelting after the Slytherin Chaser, Bulstrode, and upon catching up with him began circling round and round him trying to put him off. Her tactic worked and Bulstrode dropped the Quaffle which was swiftly caught by James who zigzagged back towards the Slytherin goals at breakneck speed. I cheered him on with my mates and sure enough James scored bring the score up to 0 : 20.

'And what's that move called?' Mary asked with a grin.

'I believe that was a Woollongong Shimmy.'

'Very good.'

'I try.' I replied with a grin of my own. We returned our attention to the game. James scored twice more and Marlene and Kieran both scored another goal each as well. 0 : 60 to Gryffindor.

After Kieran's goal, I saw James glance into the stands and I followed his gaze. He had looked in the direction of the teachers and it dawned on me who he was looking for. He yelled for his fellow chasers who flew to meet him. They moved forwards once more in their arrow formation and pursued the Slytherin Chaser with the Quaffle. But then James yelled something else at them and they split with all three of them spiralling through the pitch and breaking through the green ranks. They didn't attempt to get the Quaffle but continued to rocket in and out of the Slytherin players.

'What are they doing?' Mary asked confused. 'JUST GET THE QUAFFLE!'

'They're letting Andrew show off his moves.' I said nodding at the Gryffindor goal posts. The Slytherin Chaser had reached the scoring area and threw the Quaffle. Andrew blocked it with a Starfish and Stick movement where he hung off his broom with one foot curled around the broom and a single hand gripping it. He caught the ball with ease and flung it in the direction of Marlene who caught it and began tearing up the pitch in the direction of the Slytherin end. But the Slytherins were upping their game and the two Beaters whacked Bludgers in her direction and she was forced to do a Sloth Grip Roll to avoid them. This meant she dropped the Quaffle and it was caught by Bulstrode who'd been circling below.

The game progressed and slowly the Slytherins began closing the gap in score. Andrew delivered some more spectacular saves but a few goals made it past him. The Gryffindor Chasers continued to score but both teams played more and more aggressively so by the time the score reached 50 : 90 a Time Out was called as one of the Bludgers (sent by Sirius) hit Slytherin's Seeker and Madame Pomfrey had to come on to the pitch to heal him. During this time, the Gryffindor team huddled and the Slytherins did the same.

'This game has been way more intense than I expected.' Alice said as we waited for the game to resume.

'I hope the Slytherin Seeker's alright.' I said worriedly.

'Only you would worry about the opposite side's Seeker.' Mary said rolling her eyes. 'You're Daddy's been amazing hasn't he Ollie?' She cooed at her son who giggled happily. She tickled under his chin and he squirmed in delight.

'I still think my bet was a good idea.' Frank said stubbornly and Mary and I exchanged grins at Alice's livid face.

'And both teams are back in the air!' Remus yelled into his Magical Megaphone. 'The game resumes in 10…9…8…' Remus and Peter waved for the crowd to join in. The stands obliged. '7…6…5…4…3…2…1!'

Chaos on the pitch resumed as players darted everywhere.

'I hope someone gets the Snitch soon.' Mary grumbled as Gryffindor received a penalty. Slytherin Beater, Harper, had elbowed James in the chest which was a definite penalty for cobbing. James took the penalty and scored so it was 50 : 100 to Gryffindor.

As if to answer Mary's wish, the two Seekers began diving. The Seekers were neck and neck as the hurtled towards the ground and I covered my eyes with my hands.

'They're going to crash!' I moaned, peaking through my fingers.

'No they won't.' Frank and Alice said in unison before looking at each other in surprise.

'GRYFFINDOR SEEKER, AMY JOHNSON, GETS THE SNITCH!' Remus bellowed and there was a roar of jubilation from the red clad supporters. 'Gryffindor Win!'

The Gryffindor supporters ran on to the pitch as the teams returned to the ground. I lagged behind, not wanting to run, and watched with an amused eye as the Gryffindor Team were hugged and cheered by their fans. I could barely see any of my mates in the throng of red and gold. Eventually, the crowd began to make their way back towards the castle and I left the stands in peace. As I walked across the pitch, I caught sight of a figure dressed in red loitering by the stands.

'James?' I asked. 'What are you still doing here?'

'Waiting for you.' He responded and joined me returning to the castle. 'The robes you made me fit really well.' James added with a grin.

'Good, good.' I grinned as well. 'Because I was worried they wouldn't fit over your "rock hard abs, biceps of steel, the likes".'

'Haha.'

'I am hilarious, aren't I?' I winked at James who pretended to swoon.

'Were you impressed by my Quidditch skills today?' He asked with a smirk.

'There was that moment you stuck your head up your arse…that was impressive.'

'I thought my head was already up my arse.'

'Well, it's not my fault you're a mutant with more than one head.' I gave a smirk of my own.

'Mutant?' He asked with mock hurt.

'Would you prefer beast? Demon? Behemoth? I've got more…'

'I'll stick with mutant.'

'A handsome mutant, I'll give you that.' I said and immediately wished I hadn't. My cheeks started to flame up and I looked away from James in embarrassment.

'You think I'm handsome?' He asked and I could tell he was smug. Even though I wasn't looking at him I could see his smirk widening.

'Handsome? D-did I say handsome?' I knew I was scarlet. 'I meant hideous.'

'Right.'

'You know you smell of sweat.' I said disgruntled. 'It's really bad.'

'Oh, that's a shame.' He answered. 'Because you looked a little cold and as a gentleman I give my coat to cold girls or in this case robes.'

'Argh!' I yelled as he dumped his sweaty Quidditch robes around my shoulders. 'I made these for you. You should be more appreciative!' I turned to glower at him. 'Aaand you're topless…'

'Like what you see, Evans?' James smirked at me and I scowled at him.

'You'll catch a cold like that.' I answered and folded my arms.

'Yes, dear.' He continued to grin like an idiot. I pulled the sweaty robes off my shoulders and thrust them back at James.

'Put the robes back on or you'll die of hypothermia. We're in Scotland not Egypt. April isn't that warm.'

'I'm perfectly alright, Lils.' He winked at me. 'You're the one who looked like they were cold - rosy cheeks and all.'

'I am not cold!' I cried exasperatedly and stepped slightly away from James at the mischievous glint in his eye. 'Noooo!' I yelped as he began to chase me with the sweaty robes. I darted across the grounds as fast as I could and James pelted after me. He may have had his long legs and being a Chaser on his side but I had football on mine meaning I could run for much longer than he could.

'I give up.' James called after me about 10 minutes after we'd started running. He was bent over breathing heavily and I jogged over to him cautiously. Together we walked back towards the castle. 'How do run that fast for so long?'

'Football.' I answered with a grin. 'You know, an actual sport.'

'Quidditch is a sport!' James insisted indignantly.

'If I save up a bit extra this summer, I'll invite you to see a game of football. You wait till you see a professional game!' I smiled excitedly. 'Weeeeest Haaaaaaam! West Ham!'

'I'm guessing that's your team.'

'I'm forever blowing bubbles, Pretty bubbles in the air.' I sang and began skipping back to Gryffindor Tower. James watched me sing with a lopsided grin and I only stopped when we reached the portrait hole. 'You might want to put your robes back on for your entrance. As much as I'm sure the girls will all appreciate you only being dressed from the torso down, I think it might change what they're cheering about.'

'Good point.' He pulled the robes over his head and with a flick of my wand I cleaned them so he wouldn't smell of sweat.

'I should've done that earlier.' I said regretfully as James gave the password and we entered the common room. There was a loud roar of excitement and James was pulled into the crowd. I moved to the side of the room and watched in amusement as he was dragged on to a table.

'Speech! Speech! Speech!' The crowd chanted and James grinned. A shot as passed up to him which he downed before speaking.

'We fucking did it!' He shouted and everyone cheered. The party resumed and James climbed down from the table and headed towards the drinks being manned by Sirius. On his way a fifth year, called Rachel Goldbloom, grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss. A second later and he was snogging her back.

I stared at the two with my eyes wide. My heart felt like it had been stood on and was being smashed into a million pieces. At yet I couldn't look away. The onlooker's wolf whistling brought me back to my senses and I turned and left the common room. Through corridors and up staircases I rushed until I arrived at the Astronomy Tower. I looked out at the Hogwarts grounds and sighed.

I'd forgotten that side of James. I'd forgotten what James did at parties. I'd forgotten he was still a lady's man and in a way, I'd forgotten he wasn't committed to me. It was stupid really because I wasn't dating James nor was I anywhere near dating him. We were just friends after all, regardless of my feelings for him.

Just friends…

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I'm sorry for what happened at the end. Well, kind of. I was writing and it just happened. Are you mad at me for it? Sorry.**

 **Please review :)**


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

 **A/N: Welcome back to Jily land! Poor, poor Lily. But James will be James and stuff happens. For anyone who's ever had a crush and then seen them snogging someone else, this chapter is partially for you. Not all of it though…**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

April and May dragged by like Hagrid pulling a Christmas tree – slowly. By the time June arrived, I wasn't in the mood for school anymore and for the first time ever I was counting down the days until the 17th of July when the term would end. 6 weeks away from Hogwarts sounded like pure heaven. I had taken Oliver in his pram for a walk because he'd been crying incessantly since breakfast and nothing had calmed him down. Mary had joined in with his crying after nothing anyone did could make him stop and Andrew had had to comfort her. It was then that I took Oliver outside so that his parents could have a break.

My route had taken us to the edge of the Lake and I decided we would go for a walk around it. The Lake's surface was still and undisturbed. Its black sheen was comforting and even Oliver must have felt it because he ceased his wailing. I smiled sadly at the baby.

'Don't grow older, Ollie.' I said to him. 'Growing older just puts you in bad situations.'

His response was to squirm at me and giggle.

'That's right.' I nodded at him. 'You should laugh at Auntie Lily. She's being stupid. She's getting upset about a boy.' Oliver wriggled happily. 'Imagine that.' I said with a small smile and picked him up. 'You wouldn't do that would you, Ollie?' He cuddled into me. 'No, you wouldn't. You're much too clever for that.'

I rocked him for a moment and stared out across the Lake. A tentacle from the giant squid graced the surface for a moment before it retreated under the surface once more. One of Oliver's little hands reached out and pulled at my plait.

'We should keep going, shouldn't we?' I replaced him in the pram and we continued to move on our lap around the Lake. 'I shouldn't be so bothered by him.' I said after a few minutes of progress. 'In a few years, this'll all seem stupid anyway. I'm only 17 and that is way too young to be fussed by this stuff. I'm not Tuney. I'm not going to get married at 19 so I don't need to have a relationship now.'

We'd reached the halfway point around the Lake and I stopped once more. There was a log which I decided would be great to sit on. I picked Oliver out of his pram again and plonked him on my lap where I bounced him gently with my knee.

'D'you want to practice walking, little guy?'

For 10 minutes, we worked on his walking. He improved a little but of course, he still had a long way to go before he could walk by himself.

'Just you wait, Ollie. By the time your first birthday comes along you'll be a master at this and all the grown-ups will be so impressed. I bet they'll give you extra presents.' Oliver giggled and pointed his small index finger at the Lake. 'Yes, that's the Lake.' He continued to point. 'Oh, alright. You can dip your toes in it.'

I pulled off his miniature shoes and socks. Then carefully I knelt by the waterside with him and held him so that his feet brushed the surface of the water. After touching the water once, Oliver giggled and began kicking his legs so that the water splashed. Eventually, Oliver grew bored of splashing and I dried him with a flick of my wand before replacing his socks and then his shoes. I returned him to the pram and continued our walk.

* * *

It was dark outside by the time I returned to Mary's rooms to drop off Oliver. As I entered Mary sent me a grateful smile and Andrew took the pram from me. Oliver slept soundly and Andrew carried him off to the nursery.

'Right.' Mary said as Andrew left the room. 'We're going out.' She grabbed my arm and dragged me out into the corridor. Then she frogmarched me all the way to Gryffindor Tower and to the dormitory. As we entered, we were greeted by Alice, Marlene and the sound of Elton John's greatest hits drifting out of an enchanted record player. Mary closed the door behind us. 'We're having a sleepover!'

'And tonight we're going to deal with this whole Potter issue.' Alice added and the others nodded. Marlene pointed to the centre of the room where there were duvets and pillows covering the floor. In the middle of that was a low table with chocolate and shots covering it.

'All non-alcoholic because we know you hate alcohol.' Marlene said.

'You guys…' I said with a smile twitching my face.

'Right, change into your pyjamas and then we'll get started.' Mary instructed and it was then I noticed she was in her dressing gown. I obeyed and changed into my pyjamas. When I finished, I turned to see they'd brought out a punchbag with a picture James' face stuck onto it.

'I call it Punch the Prick.' Marlene said proudly. 'You take a shot and then you punch it.'

'But first!' Alice said hurriedly. 'We're going to sit in a circle and take it in turns to down a pint of water. If you manage to do it in the time of the song you get to share a story about why Potter's an arsehole.'

We all sat down on the duvets and pillows and Mary produced 4 pint glasses and a jug of water. We all took glass and Mary filled mine with water. I raised it to my lips.

'Ready?' I asked with a small grin.

'WE LIKE TO DRINK WITH LILY COS LILY IS OUR MATE,' Marlene, Mary and Alice began to sing in unison. 'AND WHEN WE DRINK WITH LILY SHE GETS IT DOWN IN 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!'

I slammed the glass down on '1' and my grin spread across my face.

'I believe I get to share a story.' I declared and the others nodded. 'Once he…um…told me he didn't like the idea of "a girl like me" going into the Forbidden Forest without him to protect me. That was about the time we searched for Ollie. And I punched him.' The last sentence I said with a mixture of sadness and pride. My grin faltered a little.

'Go Lily!' Marlene yelled thumping me on the back.

'My turn!' Alice said and Mary poured her some water. 'Ready?'

'WE LIKE TO DRINK WITH AL COS AL IS OUR MATE AND WHEN WE DRINK WITH AL SHE GETS IT DOWN IN 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!' We chanted and Alice raised her glass in victory as she finished it.

'Right. In 5th year, Potter hexed a first year in front of me and then walked off.'

'What a wanker.' Marlene said disgustedly.

'He's not like that anymore.' I argued.

'Lily, that is not the point of this evening.' Mary scolded and I smiled sheepishly.

'I'm going next!' Marlene demanded and we all rolled our eyes. 'Ready?'

'WE LIKE TO DRINK WITH MARLS COS MARLS IS OUR MATE AND WHEN WE DRINK WITH MARLS SHE GETS HE DOWN IN 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!' Marlene let out a whoop as she finished her pint of water.

'Excellent!' She beamed. 'I've wanted to rant about this for months. Basically, I spent the past few years listening to Potter go on and on about Lily and when he finally got the chance to go out with Lily he was a piece of shit and snogged some 5th year! Yesterday I finally got round to punching him.'

'Yes, Marls!' Mary cheered. I frowned a little but then poured Mary some water.

'Ready?'

'WE LIKE TO DRINK…'

* * *

A few hours later and we had finished bitching about James. I stood before the punchbag with a shot glass in hand.

'So I just punch it?' I checked.

'Exactly!' Marlene enthused and the Girls began chanting my name as I braced myself. Swiftly, I necked the shot of what turned out to be apple juice and moved my curled fist back. Closing my eyes, I thought briefly of James' lopsided grin and my heart leapt painfully. I shook off that image and punched the punchbag. A small grin shifted on to my face.

I didn't need James. I was fine without him. I was fine with just being friends with him. Just fine.

* * *

I woke in the early hours of the next morning and looked around me. The Girls and I all lay on the floor under our respective duvets. The chocolate from last night had all been devoured and the shots of apple juice were all empty. I pushed myself up and quietly crept of the dormitory. The common room was empty and I sat myself in one of the armchairs by the fire.

James and I still acted like we had before, well he did. I hadn't laughed as much with him and I hadn't lowered my guard so much. We were still friends and if anyone looked at us they would've thought everything was fine. James certainly thought so. I supposed he didn't realise I'd seen him kiss, no snog, that 5th year and even if he knew I'd seen as far as he was concerned I had no reason to be upset about it. I'd never told him how I felt.

But now it sucked. It sucked every day I saw him because I remembered he wasn't interested in me. I remembered that if we ever did kiss it would be like he had with that 5th year, at a party and with no strings attached. And that made me feel like shit.

I sighed and pulled my hair out of its braid. Running my fingers through my hair in frustration I stared into the fire. Why the Hell was I mopping like some soppy teenage girl? I stood up abruptly and began pacing in front of the fire.

Maybe I just needed to do something productive and not give myself any time to be upset. I could use my spare time to do some extra duelling practice. Or some reading in the Founder's Library. Or some more football. Or making something…

A dress! I could make a dress! One that was really stylish and cool. One that showed of all my figure's highlights…whatever they were. That sounded like a plan. I smiled to myself and nodded in satisfaction. Turning away from the fire, I headed back to my dormitory and started sketching my idea.

* * *

The Girls and I stood outside Professor McGonagall's office with eager anticipation. I had shown my girlfriends my sketch of the dress I wanted to make and then they had come up with the idea to have a party at the end of the year for all the 5th, 6th and 7th years to celebrate the end of a school year filled with hard work. And now we were waiting to ask Professor McGonagall for permission.

She finally arrived and admitted us into her office.

'So, girls, how can I help you?'

'Well, Professor.' Mary said. 'As you know the 5th, 6th and 7th years have had a really tough year this year and we thought that perhaps we could have a party for all of them to let their hair down and relax. We were planning to host it on the 16th of July and in the Great Hall.'

'And you four would organise the whole event yourselves?'

'Yes, Professor.'

'I will agree that the last three years at Hogwarts are the most difficult. I would gladly approve of this party but I will have to lay down some ground rules. No alcohol. An appropriate dress code. And no students below 5th year attending.'

'Thank you, Professor!' Mary gushed and all four of us beamed.

'Very well, girls.' She dismissed us and we left the room in high spirits. I didn't really like parties but organising them was a very different story.

'Lily, you've got till the 16th to finish your dress.' Alice informed me.

'Wha- why?' I asked in confusion.

'You're wearing it to the party.'

'Umm…'

'To show Potter he's a piece of shit.' Marlene explained with an exasperated sigh.

'Right.'

We made our way to the Great Hall for dinner and reached it quickly as we spoke about the party we would be organising. We decided the dress code would be for a cocktail party but Marlene would stand at the door making sure everyone was appropriately dressed. I had a feeling she was just hoping to yell at Harriet Ross.

* * *

A week later and the school was already a buzz with the prospect of a party. Posters for it had been stuck all over the school and people were queueing up to write their names down to say they were attending. We sat at Second Breakfast smiling to ourselves. I was surprised at how quickly I had sewn my dress because a week after designing it, it was complete and hanging in my wardrobe. The Girls had then asked me if I would make them dresses to which I had agreed and to my surprise they had pressed money into my hands. I'd insisted they didn't pay me but apparently I wasn't allowed to refuse the money and had to accept it.

I had drawn sketches of their dresses and was showing them to their owners. Mary's was a rose gold sequin skater dress that I hoped would sparkle beautifully. I'd transfigured a pebble into the fabric I wanted and as far as I could tell it would do exactly what I wanted but you could never be too sure with dresses. Alice's dress was a little black dress with a cut out top area – still appropriate however. Marlene's dress had taken a while to think of but eventually I had sketched a pencil dress that was white but covered with a thick navy blue lace.

'Lily, how come you can draw so well?' Alice moaned as she looked at her dress.

'It's not that good. My mum could draw way better than that.' I glanced towards the entrance of the Great Hall. 'Quick! Hide them! The SOs are on their way over.'

A few seconds later and Frank, Kieran and Andrew (with Oliver) had arrived and sat down next to their respective partners. I felt slightly out of place alongside the three couples so I simply sipped my water and didn't make eye contact with anyone.

Water was a weird substance. It broke up bonds between atoms, turned up in loads of reactions and we relied on it for survival. Humans could go about three weeks without any food but only 3 days without water. What a strange, strange liquid.

'What the fuck?' Marlene asked baffled. Her voice snapped through my reverie and I followed her line of sight. James was climbing on to the Gryffindor table and calling for silence. The Hall obeyed and he turned, to my surprise, to face me. I watched him with slight suspicion.

'Lily Martha Evans,' He began loudly. Yup, he was definitely talking to me. Shame.

'You've never told us your middle name was Martha.' Marlene muttered to me but Mary and Alice shushed her.

'I have been an idiot.' James continued.

'He's finally realised.' Marlene whispered tearfully and a grin spread on to my face as I tried not to laugh at her statement. 'After all this time.'

'I've been blind.'

'Well, he does wear glasses.' Marlene pointed out behind me. It took all my effort to keep in the howl of laughter that was bursting to erupt out of me.

'And I should never have done what I did. What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry.' James looked me directly in the eyes and any laughter in me died. There was a long pause and I wondered whether I was supposed to say something. 'It would be the greatest honour if you would be my date to the end of year party.'

I stared at James. The whole Hall waited with baited breath, including myself, for my answer. I opened my mouth and then closed it again. Twice.

'I…' I felt myself go pink. 'Yes.'

The cheer that started at the Gryffindor table and spread across all 4 House tables was slightly startling. I looked at my mates who were beaming at me and then I looked at James who had climbed down from the table and was walking towards me. I got up out of my seat and smiled at the approaching James.

'I knew you thought I was handsome.' He said with a smirk as he reached me.

'No no.' I answered mirroring his smirk. 'I said yes out of pity.'

'Oh really?'

'Really. Couldn't have you rejected in front of the whole school now, could we?'

'That never stopped you before.' He countered.

'Well, you need something to soften the blow of me giving you detention for being disrespectful of school property by standing on it and a detention for being disruptive at breakfast.' I told him and folded my arms. James grinned at me.

'You drive me crazy, Miss Evans.' He looped his arm around me and I smiled up at him.

'Pads, Mooney, you owe me 12 galleons.' Peter said as he walked up to us with Sirius and Remus.

'What were you betting about?' I asked suspiciously.

'Whether James would ask you out today.' Remus said and Sirius grinned.

'Prongs you rogue!' Sirius teased and punched him in the arm. 'You said you ask Lily at the end of the year.'

'Since when have you listened to James?' I asked amused.

'Since I bet 12 galleons on when he'd ask you out.'

'Peter, I am extremely impressed.' I told him with a nod. '24 galleons in one day. That's pretty good.'

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **We're finally getting there. James and Lily are going on their first date! Yay! Finally.**

 **Please Review :)**


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

 **A/N: It's almost the summer holidays in Jily land! 6** **th** **year has been stressful. I think our characters are looking forward to whatever the summer brings.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

I sighed and entered my dormitory bracing myself for what was about to happen. The second I stepped into the room I was attacked by Alice and Marlene. The two of them pushed me towards my wardrobe and forced my dress into my hands. I changed into it and the second I'd done that, Marlene yanked me over to her. She pushed and pummelled my hair and then grabbed my hands. Filing could only begin to explain what she was doing and before I knew it she was painting my nails a crimson red. Then she did the same to my toenails. As soon as they were dry, Alice took over and harassed my face with a wide assortment of makeup and makeup brushes. I wondered if my face would be bruised the next day.

'You're done.' Alice said after what seemed like hours.

'Thank Merlin for that!' I said brightly and got up to do a small victory dance.

'You can look at yourself in the mirror.'

'Hurray.' I grimaced.

'NOT SO FAST!' Marlene practically yelled. 'You still need to put your shoes on. I'm not having your bare fucking feet ruin the whole look.' She handed me a pair of bright red strappy stilettoes.

'I didn't know you owned these.' I said putting them on.

'Well, you do now.' And Marlene pushed me unceremoniously in front of a full-length mirror and I steadied myself before looking at my reflection.

The dress I'd made was a bright red and a pencil dress that went just below my knees. There was a slit up the side and a small cut out by my cleavage. The top was a halter-top so I'd sewn in a built-in bra which had gone surprisingly well. The crimson didn't clash with my hair but made it seem like an even deeper red. My lipstick matched the dress and my black eyeliner had a subtle wing with seemed to contrast with my green eyes so they looked more obvious.

'I love it!' I said with a smile.

'Course you do.' Alice said as there was a knock on the door. I walked over to it and opened it to reveal Mary. She entered the threshold.

'Babes, you look gorgeous.' She told me and I grinned in response. 'I just dropped Ollie off with the House Elves.'

'Mary, d'you want me to do your hair?' Alice asked.

'How come you guys asked Mary nicely and you practically beat me up when getting me ready?' I whined.

'Because Mary doesn't try and fucking run for it if someone comes near her with a bloody hair pin.' Marlene snapped and finished applying her navy eyeliner. 'Lily come here a sec.' I obeyed and walked over to her. She pointed her wand at me and muttered something.

'What did you do?' I asked suspiciously.

'It's a spell that stops your makeup coming off until you want it to come off.' Mary said from the other side of the room.

'Right.'

'Wouldn't want it coming off while your shagging Potter.' Marlene said with an evil smile.

'There will be no shagging!' I cried in exasperation.

'Sure, sure.' Alice said nodding and I threw a pillow at her. 'Hey!'

* * *

Half an hour later and we were all ready. We headed down to the Great Hall and arrived at the time we had agreed with Professor McGonagall. The party started at 8 pm but we arrived at 7.30 so we could make sure the last preparations were perfect. We entered the Great Hall and admired our handiwork. The Hall was decorated in the 4 House colours and balloons in those colours floated in the air. Food and drink were placed at the top of the Hall where the staff table usually was and the dancefloor filled most of the room. Music, monitored by Professor McGonagall, was playing from the side of the room out of an amplified record player that had been enchanted to play all manner of songs.

Marlene took her place at the door to check people's attire and Alice, Mary and I waited outside the Hall for our dates. I wasn't really nervous about my date with James. It surprised me but I really wasn't worried. I was just excited. I liked James and I was sure of it. This date was going to be great.

The first attendees arrived and were allowed entrance by Marlene who ushered them in to prevent a queue from forming. Frank turned up and he led Alice into the Great Hall. Andrew arrived soon after that and he and Mary headed into the Hall leaving me waiting alone. I waved at Sirius and Remus as they passed me and winked at Peter, who was escorting a 5th year Hufflepuff. Kieran arrived and began helping Marlene man the door. I watched the two of them for a moment. For all their ups and downs, the two of them really were adorable together. Kieran was so thoughtful about Marlene and he brought out a softer side in her. I remembered Valentine's Day and smiled to myself as I thought of the card he'd got her. Someone pinched my bum and I spun around absolutely livid.

'What do you- oh, it's you.' I ended my sentence as little sheepishly as I looked up at James' smirking face. 'You're not supposed to pinch your date in the arse before you've even said anything to them.'

'Oh, so I'm allowed once I've spoken to you?'

'Let's go in the Hall, you smug bastard.' I said with a scowl as James laughed and I dragged him into the Great Hall. As we entered the Hall, the previous song ended and the Golden Snidgets' song Little Miss Scarlet came on.

'Miss Evans,' James said and offered me his hand. 'May I have this dance?'

'Sure.' I said and we went onto the dance floor. 'I hate this song.' I mumbled and James snorted with laughter. I enjoyed dancing with James even if I hated the song and I actually laughed when James sang one of the offending lines at me. When it ended, we headed over to the drinks table.

'What're you having?' James asked as we reached it.

'Water.' I answered. 'You?'

'Normally I'd go with butterbeer but that was an intense song so I'll have some water.'

'Staying hydrated is extremely important.' I said nodding and he rolled his eyes.

'Only you would bring that up at a party.'

'That's what makes me unique.' I answered and leaned into him as he put his arm around me. For a moment, we watched the other guests dancing. 'Want to know a fun fact?'

'Go on.'

'I had a crush on you in first year.' I said and James coughed into his drink. I thumped him on the back. 'I bet you were thinking I was going to give you a fact about water but no I didn't. Lily Evans, a woman of surprises.'

'Really?'

'Yep. I guess first year me had just as bad judgement as I do now. Some things never change.'

'I take offence in that. First year me was already a handsome little bugger and now…well…I'm practically not of this world in looks.'

'I'm not sure that's a good thing. Demons aren't known to be good-looking.' I quipped.

'I am not a demon! I'm an angel in looks.'

'If you say so.' I said with a grin. 'Want to dance again?'

'Sure.' James said imitating me from earlier and putting an overexaggerated scowl on his face.

'I do not look like that!' I insisted as we stared revolving on the spot to Celestina Warbeck's A Cauldron Full of Hot Strong Love. I smiled at James as we danced. 'I'm never too sure what she's implying with this song. I mean, "Oh, come and stir my cauldron" what is that supposed to mean? No one in real life is impressed by that. Wow, did you just stir that cauldron? Congrats! That is the most impressive thing anyone has ever done. Never mind Merlin or Emeline Pankhurst or Julie Andrews, that cauldron stirrer is a legend.'

'Maybe you shouldn't interpret it literally.' James suggested with an amused tone.

'Probably not. There are songs that I pray are just metaphors.'

'Like Little Miss Scarlet?' James asked evilly.

'Perfect example!' I said. 'The line "And a smile that leads to sex" I'm assuming is implying something else because there is no way that anyone could testify my smiling at them had led to sex.'

'No?' James raised an eyebrow.

'No! My smile is not an invitation to hook up with me!' I said indignantly.

'That is very true.' James agreed with a nod. 'My cousin isn't the most respectful towards women.'

'I noticed.' I grinned at him. 'At least you're nice.'

'Nice? More like super mega foxy awesome hot!'

'That's a lot of adjectives.' I said with a smile and rested my head on James' chest as the song changed to an even slower Celestina Warbeck song - You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me.

'Why do I get the feeling McGonagall likes Celestina Warbeck?' James pondered and I tilted my head up to look at him.

'I really got myself a genius, haven't I?' I grinned up at him and he stuck out his tongue at me. 'Considering you've visited Professor McGonagall more times than Sirius has looked in the mirror I'm surprised you've never worked it out. She's got a picture of herself with Celestina Warbeck in her back cabinet.'

'Really?' James sounded stunned. 'I've never seen that! Is that in the in the cabinet with-'

'Her ginger newts? Yes.'

'Wow.'

'Well, teachers are people too.' We revolved on the spot for the next few songs talking of nothing in particular. The two of us eventually grew tired of dancing and headed back over to the food and drink. We piled food onto our plates and then headed outside. The sun was almost set behind the Forbidden Forest and we seated ourselves on the steps outside.

'D'you think about the future?' James asked as we watched the sunset.

'All the time.' I admitted and leaned on James' shoulder. He put his arm around me and I snuggled into him. 'I'm scared for it if I'm honest because there's so much of it I can't control. I want to be a healer. I want to help people. But I always feel like who I am stops me doing what I want to do.'

'And who are you?'

'A Mudblood.' I said bitterly. James lifted me off his shoulder and made me face him. He had a hard, blazing look in his eyes.

'Lils, you are not a Mudblood. You're the most amazing and incredible witch I've ever met. Don't you ever believe that you're not equal.' He stroked my cheek. 'And if I have to spend the rest of my life proving that to you then I will.'

'The rest of your life? That's an awfully long time.' A small smile formed on my face. We looked at each other and James smiled back at me.

'I'm going to fight Voldemort.' He said after a moment. I stared at him but then nodded.

'Me too.' I whispered.

'Lils…'

'Yes?'

'Can I kiss you?'

'Yes.' I nodded and James cupped my face in his hands. We both leaned forwards and I closed my eyes. As our lips met it was like sparks exploded inside me. My whole body filled with warmth and as I kissed him back I felt as though we were floating in the air. The rest of the world ceased to exist and several starlit nights must have passed before we broke apart. A grin spread across my face as I took a deep breath and looked back at James. 'Well, if I'd know you kissed that badly I would've said no.'

'Oh, shut up.' James replied nudging me with his elbow. He looped his arm back around me and I cuddled into him as we watched the last of the sun disappear behind the trees. 'Who d'you think will be Head Boy and Girl?'

'Annabel Palmer for Head Girl. She's really lovely, gets good grades and I can't think of anyone who doesn't like her. I suppose Miriam Reid might get it. She's also really nice but I don't know her very well. For Head Boy, Remus. I mean, he's clever, level headed, organised and fair. Or you actually. I could see you as Head Boy. You're a great leader.'

'You think I could be Head Boy?'

'Why not? Just look at how good a Quidditch Captain you are. That's leadership skills, tactics, communication, boosting moral and being firm.' I entwined my fingers in the hand he had draped over my shoulder. 'I think you underestimate yourself, James.'

'Well, I think you would be a great Head Girl.'

'Thanks.' I paused knowing exactly what James was going to say next.

'The Heads have a Heads Common Room for their own personal use. Just think if we were Heads together…'

'And there it is.' I said amused. Pushing myself up, I ate some of the food we'd brought outside. 'This is a good piece of cake. Want some?'

'Sure.' And I smeared some of the cake across his face.

'You never learn, Potter!' I declared with an evil cackle. Apparently, I didn't learn either because with a squeak I jumped up and began to run as James chased me with the remaining cake. I blamed Marlene's red stilettoes in all honesty as I hobbled away as fast as I could. Unfortunately, James was much faster and he practically pounced on me so that the two of us fell back. James landed on top of me and pushed himself up slightly. Then he spread the cake across my face.

'Ha! Take that, Evans!' We stared at each other for a moment before James' lips crashed on to mine. Unlike our first kiss, which had been sweet, this one had more passion and the feeling of warmth seemed to intensify tenfold. We only broke apart when the human defect of breathing came into play. 'Was that chocolate cake?'

* * *

The day for our journey home arrived and the Girls and I walked slowly in the direction of the carriages. We pulled our trunks behind us and Mary carried Oliver on her hip.

'Why do the carriages have to be so far away?' Alice complained.

'Because they want to torture their students one last time before they leave the grounds.' I answered and lugged my trunk over a set of potholes.

'We're almost there.' Mary said though I had a feeling her sentence was directed at Oliver more than anyone else because she then rubbed her nose against his.

'Good.' Marlene grumbled. Sure enough, we reached the carriages and loaded our trunks into one of them before climbing in ourselves.

'Just think… In a few hours, Andrew, Ollie and I will be walking into our family home for the first time.' Mary sighed dreamily. She and Andrew had purchased a cottage in a village called Little Hangleton and were moving in there that evening. The plan was that Andrew and Ollie would live there during the whole of next year while Mary finished her education at Hogwarts and she would visit them every weekend. After that, all three of them would live there and raise Oliver in the quaint village.

'Ergh. Looking for homes.' Marlene said disgustedly. 'We're going to have to start that next year. And saving up for them.'

'My parents said they'd pay for mine.' Alice said with a shrug.

'So did mine.' Marlene told us with a nod. 'But I told them I want to pay for some of it myself.'

'I'm going to live with my dad until I save enough for my own place.' I said.

'Independence, eh? What are we going to do with it?' Mary asked with a sigh.

'Blow something up.' Marlene answered grimly. We all looked at her. 'What? Oh, come on. We all know that one way or another someone's going to do it.'

'I put my money on myself.' I said instantly.

'Nah. I'm going with Marls.' Alice stated shaking her head.

'Here, here.' Mary agreed and Oliver gurgled as though to agree also.

'Ollie!' Marlene gasped. 'You're a traitor to your Auntie Marls!' Oliver giggled and we all laughed.

The carriage arrived at Hogsmeade station and we piled out with our trunks. Once on the Hogwarts Express we quickly found a compartment and dumped our things in the luggage rack. As we sat down, Oliver began to cry.

'Does baby need is nappy changed?' Mary cooed.

'Shi-sugar!' Marlene cried. 'I-'

'Shisugar? Is that a new type of sugar?' I asked with a grin and Marlene swatted me on the head as Alice snorted.

'I'm out of here if there's nappy changing going on.'

'Wimp.' Alice muttered.

'I heard that!' Marlene snapped as she left the compartment.

'Probably gone off to find Kieran.' I said wiggling my eyebrows. Mary laughed as she sorted out Oliver's nappy and Alice chuckled.

'Don't you have to go to the Prefect compartment?' Alice asked as she pulled out her magazine.

'YES!' I exclaimed loudly. 'And I told Remus I'd find him so we'd go together.' I hit my forehead in frustration. Stupid Lily. 'See you lot later.'

Reluctantly, I left the compartment and decided I would head in the direction of the Prefect's carriage and hope I'd meet Remus on the way. I wandered up the corridors and passed students filled with excitement of heading home for the holidays. Games of exploding snap, last minute spell practice and general messing about were everywhere as students made the most of the last few hours of magic. A smile made its way on to my face. I was of age now. Hehe.

I glanced into each compartment as I walked through the train and eventually found the Marauders sharing with Kieran, Frank and Ben. Marlene was sitting on Kieran's lap.

'Hello again.' I said with a grin and Marlene stuck her tongue out at me. 'Remus we've got to go to the Prefect compartment.'

'Oh yeah.' Remus said with a smile and got out of his seat. James let out a loud huff which I ignored.

'See you later guys.' I said with a wave and Remus and I set off. We reached the Prefect compartment quickly where we were met by the Head Boy and Girl who informed us that only 5th year prefects were needed to patrol the train. 'Well, that was a waste of time.' I said as we made our way back.

'I suppose. What are you doing this holiday?'

'Chores.'

'Sounds like fun.'

'Oh, I know how to have a good time.' I said with a grin.

'I think James would agree that.' Remus agreed slyly and I turned slightly pink.

'Remus!' I elbowed him and he retaliated with punching me playfully in the arm. We reached his compartment and to my surprise I saw Alice had joined their ranks. She had plonked herself on Frank's lap and was chatting with Marlene. 'Looks like quite the party in here.'

'Andrew arrived in our compartment.' Alice said in explanation and I nodded in understanding. Remus sat himself back in his seat from earlier and I took the remaining seat in between James and the window. My gaze drifted to watching the countryside whizz past. Crossing my legs, I leaned back in my seat and continue to watch the view trundle out of sight. I pulled my wand out from behind my ear and began absentmindedly casting silvery petals that crumbled into nothingness as they came in contact with a solid object.

'So what's everyone doing this summer?' I asked into the compartment.

'I'm going to Turkey again.' Remus said.

'I forgot we were going to Turkey.' Peter said smirking.

'Oh yeah. Is that the second week of the holidays?' Sirius asked mirroring Peter's expression.

'No!' Remus cried. 'You lot cannot come and ruin my holiday again!'

'But, Mooney,' James said with the air of pointing out the obvious. 'That is exactly what we can do.'

Remus groaned into his hands and pulled out a book. He began reading it and refused to listen to Sirius and Peter's teasing. James slid his arm around my waist.

'My parents are dying to have you round again so you'd better come visit us during the holidays.' He told me.

'That sounded weirdly threatening.'

'I'll apparate to your house and take you to visit us if you refuse.'

'That is definitely kidnap.'

'I asked your dad and he said it was fine.'

'When did you ask him that?' I asked baffled.

'Well, we keep up a regular correspondence.'

'Good to know you two are so chummy.' I said with a grin. A yawn escaped my mouth.

'We've got another few hours till we get there so get some sleep, Lils.'

'I don't need-' I broke off at the look James was giving me. 'Fine. I'm using you as my pillow though.'

I snuggled into him and he kissed me on the forehead as I began to drift off into a deep sleep. When I awoke, we were pulling into Platform 9 and 3/4. I pushed myself up and looked around a little bleary-eyed. Marlene and Alice were fast asleep on their boyfriends' laps. Remus was still reading. Sirius was pulling at Remus' hair in an attempt to annoy him. Peter was eating Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans with Ben. And James was staring out of the window. As the train stopped I stood up and said I needed to go get my trunk.

Quickly, I hurried through the train and into the compartment where the Woods sat. I hauled my trunk out of the luggage rack and staggered back slightly as its weight hit me.

'Write to me.' I said to Mary as I left the compartment. 'Have a good summer you three!'

The Platform was packed with people and I was jostled this way and that as I made for the exit. As I moved forwards I heard a first year excitedly tell their parents that next year they would be a second year and all grown up. I stifled a snort and kept moving. A hand grabbed me and pulled me out of the crowd behind a pillar. If I hadn't been so cross at being held back I would have been impressed that they had managed to drag me and my trunk with one arm. I looked at the offending dragger and saw James.

'Planning on leaving without saying goodbye?' He asked with a small scowl.

'Technically, I said goodbye when I said I was going to get my trunk.' I argued.

'You know that is not what I meant.'

'Right…And what exactly did you mean?' I asked a little suspiciously.

'Well,' James stepped closer to me and I felt my cheeks begin to turn pink. 'I can think of many things.' I took a step forward. For a moment, we just looked at each other. Then our lips met.

'James!' Mrs Potter called from somewhere on the other side of the pillar. We jumped apart hastily and James fell into the pillar.

'HA!' I yelled before covering my mouth. Laughter bubbled out from behind my hand and I doubled over when James rubbed his head. He grinned at me and started chuckling as Mrs Potter came around the pillar.

'James, what on earth are you doing here? Your father and Sirius have already left! Oh… hello, Lily.' She smiled at me.

'H-h-hi, Mrs Potter.' I greeted as I tried to control my mirth. Mrs Potter looked between the two of us with dawning comprehension.

'You're visiting us in the holidays, aren't you?' She confirmed and I nodded not trusting myself to speak again. James snorted and Mrs Potter turned to face her son. 'What's going on with you two?'

'I fell into the pillar and Lils was laughing at my misfortune.'

'Of course she was.' Mrs Potter said with a sigh.

'Well, I'd better be going.' I said and gave James a one-armed hug. 'See you Mrs Potter!' I hugged her too and waved at them before walking through the barrier.

Kings Cross was busy as usual but it didn't take long for me to navigate my way through the station. The street outside was bustling with London's late afternoon commuters and it took a moment to find my dad's ancient car. Eventually, I spotted it and I hurried over to it. Dad was leaning on the boot and I hugged him tightly before together we dumped my stuff in the boot. I climbed into the passenger seat and dad into the driver's seat. He put the key in the ignition and we drove into London's traffic.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. Next chapter will be in the holidays. I'm not sure how many chapters will be about the holidays but I'll see.**

 **What do you think about Lily and James' relationship? I'm not very good at romance but I'm trying. I never envisioned Lily to be really romantic but James is definitely a romantic so we'll see how that goes.**

 **A shout out to my awesome reviewers! Your opinions are really important to me and your lovely comments always make my day!**

 **Please Review :)**


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

 **A/N: Our beloved characters are growing up and fast! They're all already 17! Sob, sob.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

I hummed a non-distinct tune as I searched underneath my bed. Pulling a dusty box towards me I opened it and looked inside; the contents was a piece of aged paper. I picked it up and examined it with a sad expression. The paper had a drawing of two girls standing arm in arm with huge smiles plastered on their faces in its centre and was titled _When I am 17_ … Around this picture were statements that revealed the aspirations of my 5-year-old self. One of these dreams was to be married to a handsome prince who would buy me lots of dresses.

 **July 1965**

'Write down marrying a hand…handsome prince.' Tuney instructed me. 'He can buy you lots of pretty dresses.'

'Will he buy me books?' I asked shyly. Tuney folded her arms crossly and pulled my piece of paper towards her. She grabbed a crayon and scrawled down her suggestion.

'You don't need books. Dresses are much better.'

'But mummy said-'

'Mummy doesn't know because she didn't marry a prince. She married daddy.'

'I'm going to show daddy my picture.' I said and took the paper back from Tuney. Then I waddled out of our bedroom and made my way towards the bakery. I clambered down the stairs and walked through the bakery and into the back room. My dad was kneading bread but looked over as he heard me enter.

'Hey, flower.' He picked me up and I put my arms around his neck. 'What's this?'

'It's my picture.' I told him proudly. He looked at it.

'It's very good.' I beamed. 'You want to marry a prince?'

'Yes.' I answered stoutly. 'But Tuney says he won't buy me books.'

'Well, Pet doesn't know everything.' I snuggled into my dad as he set about kneading his bread one handed.

'Are you a prince, daddy?'

'No, my little flower. I'm a king and my kingdom is this house.'

'But if you're a king…'

'Then you're a princess? Yes, flower. You and Pet are my two princesses. Mummy's the queen.'

'Why don't you wear a tiara?'

'Because I've got to keep it a secret.' He whispered.

'A secret?' I gasped.

'Yes… Can you keep it a secret, flower?'

 **Back to July 1977**

I replaced the paper in the box and pushed it back underneath my bed. Standing up, I left my room and headed into the kitchen. As I looked around I decided that when I bought my own place my kitchen would be similar to this one. An element of familiarity would do me nicely. Buying my own flat. Responsibility. Growing up. Jobs. Real life. Adulthood. Independence. All alone. Darkness.

'Lily! Flower! Snap out of it!' Dad was shaking me and I stared at him with wide eyes, not completely seeing him. 'What is it?'

'I…I can't do this!' I gasped.

'Do what?'

'Grow up! Be an adult.' My heart was pumping madly and my hands shook slightly as dad led me into the living room and sat me down. 'Everything's screwed.'

'And why's that?' He asked sitting down beside me. I could tell he was biting back a smile.

'Because I can't control the future and who knows what'll happen. I haven't got a plan and I don't know what to do.'

'Well, that's the thing about the future – it's unexpected.' Dad hugged me into him as I shook with worry and adrenalin.

'Exactly!' I said in a panicky voice. 'Last time I planned my future I was 5 and I wanted to marry a handsome prince by the age of 17.'

'I remember that.' Dad said with a laugh.

'Even my five-year-old self had more of a clue.' I released him and leant back into my seat. 'All my mates are starting to look for houses.'

'Houses? How the hell will they afford that?'

'They're all from well-off families. Their parents are paying for most of it if not all of it.' I rested my head on my dad's shoulder. 'I'll be living with you till I've saved up enough for my own place.'

'I'm sorry I can't buy you your own place.' Dad said sadly.

'I don't care about that. Our situation is very different to that of my friends.' I paused. 'I think James' parents bought him a cottage in a place called Godric's Hollow. Mary and Andrew have a place in Little Hangleton.'

'Little Hangleton?'

'Yeah… Remember when we used to drive there for a day out in the countryside?' I smiled reminiscently.

'Shame life's too busy for that now.' Dad was silent for a moment. 'When I die, Lily-'

'You're not going to die for years and years.'

'But when I die… You and Pet should sell this place. I don't want you two to get stuck to this place like I did. I don't want you to give up your dreams for it.'

'If that's what you want.' I answered quietly. 'But you're still young so we don't have to think about that.'

'So, what's going on with you and James? Last time you wrote you said you were going to an end of year party with him and he wrote pretty much the same thing.'

'I still can't believe you two write to each other.' I said shaking my head.

'Are you two together or not?'

'I don't really know. We've only had one date but I mean I guess we act coupley… We've never really discussed it.'

'So he can't be your boyfriend after one date?'

'Umm…'

'People have become official after just one date. You and Tom did.'

'And look how that ended.' I said fiddling with the hem of my knitted jumper.

'You ended as friends, didn't you?'

'After a while yes, before he was forced to jump off a tower and then left the magical world.' Dad let out a low whistle. 'Throughout our relationship he had it in his head I preferred James and that James liked me. I guess we didn't know each other well enough before so it was doomed from the start.'

'And he was boring.'

'He wasn't boring…' I defended lamely. 'We just didn't have any… chemistry I guess you'd say.'

'Well, I like James but you'd better let me know when you two are official so I can invite him for dinner and meet him.'

'Meet him? He stayed at our house for a whole week and you write to each other. I'm pretty sure you've met him.'

'Yes but I haven't met him as your boyfriend.'

'And by that you mean?'

'It's completely different if he's seeing you. I've got to be intimidating and mean.'

'Two adjectives which don't describe you.' I said with a laugh. Dad pretended to look offended.

'I resent that!' He grumbled as there was a tapping at the window. We looked up to see a tawny owl nudging the window pane. I hastened to let it in. It flapped in and held out a leg. There was a letter attached to it addressed to me so I removed it.

 **A Letter To Lily Evans From Sirius Black:**

Dear Lily,

I may have made a huge mistake…I bought a muggle motorbike and it doesn't work. I've been boasting to the boys that I can ride it but it doesn't work. Help me! Mooney and Wormtail are helping Prongs today so if you could come over now I'd be your best surrogate brother forever. They'll never let it go if it turns out my bike's broken.

Please!

Love Sirius

I frowned at the letter slightly.

'Is it alright it I go round to Sirius' today? He needs my help sorting out his motorbike.'

'Sure. D'you want my toolbox?'

'That would be great.' I grinned at him and he went off to get it while I headed to my room and got dressed. Instead of braiding my hair like normal I twisted it into a bun and held it together with my wand. As I left my room, dad arrived with his toolbox which I took.

'I know you haven't got a driving licence but you can borrow my car if you want. I've taught you to drive pretty well. Just use your magic or something if the police turn up.'

'Are you suggesting I use magic to create a fake driver's licence?'

'Never!' He shook his head as I laughed.

'It's alright. I'll apparate.'

'I keep forgetting you can do that.' I grinned at him. 'Well, have fun!'

Focusing my mind on my destination, I spun on the spot and disapparated. I rematerialized in the front lawn of Sirius' house. He owned a bungalow on the coast with a small beach metres away from his gate but despite this prime location it was in the middle of nowhere. A lane from his front gate went off into the distance where according to Sirius there was a town an hour's walk away. At that moment, Sirius came out of his front door and I waved at him. He winked in response and I followed him round the side of the house. We stopped.

'What the fuck is that?' I said staring horror struck at the vehicle before us.

'It's a Harley Davidson.' He answered defensively.

'It's a pile of shit is what it is.'

'I don't like you being so sweary. Isn't Young the one who swears? Where's the nice Lily I usually see?'

'She left she was so appalled by your stupidity.' I sighed. 'This is going to be a long day.'

'We can sort it out, can't we?' Sirius asked worriedly.

'Course we can.' I said briskly and dumped the toolbox next to it. 'First we need to change those tires. They're flatter than James' hair in rain.'

'Don't let him hear you say that.' We both chuckled. 'So how do we change the tyres?'

'Oh my gosh.' I groaned in frustration and knelt down by the front wheel. I conjured two large rocks and put them on either side of the tyre. My hair fell out of its bun and I tied it up in a ponytail with a scowl. 'This is a spanner. Sirius meet the spanner. It screws and so do you so you'll get on famously.'

Sirius stuck out his tongue but knelt down next to me. I handed him the spanner.

'So you want to unscrew that there.' I pointed at one of the nuts on the hubcap.

* * *

3 hours later and Sirius' motorbike looked like the midway stage of a build it yourself motorcycle. We had changed the tyres but the engine was about as useful as I was playing Quidditch. Because of this I had taken it apart and now pieces of engine were scattered around me. Sirius sat beside me handing tools and providing witty commentary while I fixed his engine. As I replaced one of the spark plugs there was a loud crack behind me and Sirius swore in shock.

I turned around to see James smirking at the two of us.

'Well, well, well. Here we see the mighty working motorbike!'

'It's not broken!' Sirius said grumpily and nudged me in the back.

'We're upgrading it to fly.' I told James staunchly. 'You have to bewitch the individual parts.'

'Oh.' James answered. Wow…My lie was more convincing than I thought. 'I was looking forward to laughing at you two.' He paused and I looked guiltily at my hands. 'Pads, I really need your help. I know you two are busy but-'

'It's okay. I'll finish it if you need to go.' I said.

'Thanks, Lils.' James answered smiling at me.

'Yeah, thanks, Lily.' Sirius said. He got up and headed to where James stood. 'I'll be back soon. Probably.'

'Have fun you too.' I waved them off with a wink and turned back to the motorbike.

I continued to work on it for another two hours and eventually I revved the engine and it stuttered into action. Letting out a small cheer of jubilation I leant over the seat and fiddled with a piece of the seat adjustment. Humming to myself I worked but snapped up as someone pinched my bum. 'You-'

'Yes, Miss Evans?' James asked with a smirk.

'Why are you such a smug bastard?' I questioned as James' fingertips crawled up my arms.

'You look extremely sexy when you're all hot and bothered.'

'Well, that's my dream complete. In fact, I surpassed it because a handsome smug prick pinched my arse.'

'Handsome am I?' James asked pulling me close to him. I scowled at him.

'Sexy am I?' I grumbled.

'Very.' James murmured as he began to nibble at my neck. I struggled to keep my sour expression in place. 'Very very sexy.' His lips met mine and I forced myself not to react. James' hands shifted their way down my back.

'I hate you.' I mumbled into his lips and stopped resisting. After what felt like several glory filled days we broke apart and I promptly fell backwards over the motorbike. The mirth that erupted out of me was louder than I had anticipated and I shocked myself slightly. That was quickly forgotten as I howled with laughter from my position on the floor. James snorted.

'Only you would laugh at yourself fall.' He chuckled.

'Only you would call someone covered with greyish oily streaks sexy.' I retorted with a smile. Getting up from the floor, I picked up my wand so I could enchant the motorbike to fly. I did so subtly and James noticed nothing. 'So… What was this thing you needed Sirius for?'

'Can't tell you that.' James replied seriously. 'Marauder's secret I'm afraid.'

'Of course.' I said with a nod and walked over to him. He looped his arm around my waist. 'Where is Sirius anyway?'

'When I left he and Wormtail were having a duel with paintbrushes.'

'Well, when you see him tell him his bloody motorbike can fly and he should get a helmet.' I said and began to pack up my tools. Once they were all put away I turned back to James. 'I'm heading home so I'll see you around.'

'I was wondering if you want to meet up next week?'

'Sure. I can do Thursday.'

'I'll pick you up at 7.' He smirked and I punched him lightly in the arm.

'Until Thursday.' I saluted and then apparated back home.

* * *

Thursday came quickly and I spent the day unsure whether the hopping amphibians in my stomach were due to excitement or nerves. I did my cleaning job and my shift in the bakery as well as running errands, cleaning the house and preparing the bread dough for tomorrow morning. Dad forced me to go get ready at around 5 pm although I insisted that if James had an issue with me wearing a black hoodie and emerald green shorts then he could go straight back home. Reluctantly, I opened my dresser and pulled out a loose floral patterned yellow dress. I changed into it and put a simple line of black eyeliner on my eyes and some peachy lipstick on my lips. Looking at my reflection I decided to add some mascara. I pulled my black handbag towards me and stuffed my hoodie into it alongside a lip balm, my wand and a tube of black mascara. I left my hair loose and brushed it hastily as my dad yelled that James was here. Shuffling out of the room, I entered the hallway and saw my dad observing James with a critical eye. James grinned at me. He was wearing a white shirt and some black trousers with black shoes. Dad winked at me before pretending to glower at James. James looked slightly unsure of how to react.

'Am I presentable?' I asked and did a twirl.

'Only just.' He answered with a shrug.

'Thanks.' I sat down on the floor and pulled my fake green converses towards me. I put them on and stood up again.

'Lily,' Dad said cautiously. 'I know I don't know much about fashion but that doesn't go.'

'I suppose you're right.' I nodded and fumbled through my handbag. Pulling out my wand, I transfigured my converses to be white. 'Are we ready?'

'Yep.' James replied. I pecked my dad on the cheek and James led me out the door. We walked down the stairs and round to the back of the building. 'You're going to have to hold on to my arm.'

I obediently held tightly to James' offered arm and a second later and we'd disapparated. We appeared in front of a beautiful cobblestone cottage with ivy and wisteria growing up one side. Lavender and other wild flowers sprawled across the flowerbeds. Purple primroses grew in the window boxes and the hedge was speckled with pale pink flowers. The sun hung low in the sky and illuminated the whole scene in a golden light.

'Where are we?' I whispered. It didn't seem appropriate to speak any louder.

'Godric's Hollow.' James responded in a stage whisper and I elbowed him in the stomach. 'Hey!'

'Serves you right for taking the piss of me.'

'Want to go in?'

'Are we allowed?' James just chuckled in response and led me through the front garden and to the front door. He unlocked it and we entered the hallway. The cottage smelt of fresh paint but I smiled as I looked around me. Everything just felt so homely. There was a staircase leading upstairs and next to it a small table with a vase of yellow roses.

We headed into a room off the hallway and entered a living room. There were two squashy cream French sofas with mint coloured cushions. A beautifully engraved fireplace stood on one wall and on another hung a large mirror with an elaborate white frame. In the centre of a room was a wooden table, painted white, with another vase of flowers on it. The floor was wood panelling and I found myself entwining my fingers in James' hand as we moved into the dining room.

It was in the same style as the living room, French vintage, as was the large kitchen.

'Do you like it?' James asked a little nervously.

'It's really beautiful.'

'Yeah, it is.' James agreed but I could see him looking at me and not the room we stood in.

'Stop trying your charm.' I said nudging James and resting my head on him.

'I'm just glad you like my house.' He stated innocently.

'Sure, you are…Wait…This is your house?' I asked shocked. 'The one your parents bought you?'

'Yup.'

'Well, it's not really what I imagined you owning.' I admitted.

'Are you saying I can't like French furniture?'

'No! I just pictured you as someone who liked gold on everything.'

'I'm just a man of mysteries.' James put his arm around me and we headed upstairs.

'Is this your housewarming then?'

'Kind of. You're here celebrating the finished refurbishment. The boys and I finished it when you were upgrading Padfoot's motorbike. I'm not moving in till next year.' We looked at the master bedroom which had a large French bed in the centre with a large wardrobe at the side. My stomach gave a loud rumble.

'Sorry!' I apologised but James just laughed. As if to answer my stomach the doorbell rang.

'That'll be the food.' James said and we headed downstairs. At the door was a pizza delivery boy who James paid and then we closed the door.

'Pizza?'

'I'm practicing. Apparently, Muggles order pizza a lot. I've never had it but my Muggle Studies teacher challenged me to do it.'

'You are in for a treat. Pizza is amazing!' James lead me through the kitchen and into the garden. It was enclosed by fruit trees and lights hung between the trees. In the centre was a set of table and chairs with glasses of water, cutlery and plates on.

We settled ourselves at the table and began to tuck into the pizza. I had to demonstrate to James how to eat a slice but he managed it eventually. We chatted for a while about random things and enjoyed the summer air around us. After we'd eaten our fill, James conjured a blanket and we sat down on it. Putting my hands behind my head, I lay back on the blanket and admired the stars filling the sky.

'Why is it that the stars are always so pretty?' I asked into the silence.

'Something that comes with being so far away I suppose.'

'Everything looks better from far away.' I agreed. 'Except you I guess…'

'Really?' He mused smugly and I turned slightly pink. At least I was lying down so I didn't have to look him in the eye.

'I…um…yeah…' My skin burned with embarrassment. 'I... mean…you're always…you know…'

'Is that so?' James whispered in my ear as he leaned over me with his hands on either side of my head. He grinned down at me and I smiled shyly back.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Next chapter is also going to be in the summer holidays but I reckon that'll be it. After that we'll be heading back to school. Yay!**

 **How was this chapter? I'm not very good at writing romantic stuff so sorry.**

 **Please Review :)**


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

 **A/N: Welcome back! I'm uploading this one earlier than usual because there's a chance I won't have wifi on Sunday. There's also a chance I won't be able to upload next week so I'll post the chapter meant for that Sunday as soon as I can. ANYWAY... Part 2 of the summer holidays. Yay!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

I tied my hair up in a messy bun and pulled on my most comfortable clothes; I wore a pair of black tracksuit bottoms and a baggy dark green hoodie. Pulling the hood over my head, I picked up my wand and put it in my handbag before heading into the living room to say goodbye to my dad.

'You heading off?' He asked as I entered with my handbag slumped over my shoulder.

'Yeah.' I patted his head. 'I'll be back in a few hours.' I turned and left the room. My fake converses, returned to their normal colour, were quickly slipped on to my feet and then I apparated directly into the little courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron. I tapped the correct brick and waited for the archway form. Then I began walking down Diagon Alley and took out my shopping list. There weren't too many books to buy this year but there were still a few meaning I made my way straight to the second-hand shop, Trinity's Treasures, which was completely empty save for the wizard behind the till.

Dust hung in the air and each particle seemed to reflect the light streaming in through the shop windows. I made my way to the furthest corner of the shop and picked up the required books. The volumes looked pretty battered but they were better than nothing. On my way back to the counter I saw a set of plain black robes in my size which I picked up thinking of my too small and slightly threadbare set back at home. That set of robes had only lasted me a year compared with the ones I'd had before that which I'd owned since first year. It really was a bit hit and miss with this shop – some stuff was really good quality and some just a pile of rubbish. I brought my things to the till and handed the wizard behind it the correct amount. He packed my purchases into two bags and I left the shop with one in each hand.

Diagon Alley wasn't particularly busy and as I continued down the street to Flourish and Blott's I noticed a few missing posters in shop windows. One of the ones in the bookshop window was of a 7-year-old boy. My eyes saddened at the sight of it and I headed into the shop to browse the newest pieces of prose. A book about a witch giving up her magic to save her true love's life caught my eye. Not because it sounded like an exciting read but because it caused me to scoff in disgust at how sickly the blurb sounded. I couldn't afford any of the books in this shop if I wanted money left for my potions ingredients so I left the shop with a sigh. Heading in the direction of the Apothecary I spotted four people up the street who I recognised. One of these 4 people I really didn't want to see. I ducked behind a teetering stack of cauldrons and hastily cast a disillusionment charm over myself and my shopping. My heart bounded loudly in my chest and I held my breath as they walked past. The four of them noticed nothing and I let out a sigh of relief once they were out of sight.

'What the fuck are you doing?' A voice asked loudly behind me and I jumped in shock.

'Nothing.' I replied removing the charm and turning to face the speaker. Marlene raised an eyebrow.

'You were hiding behind a load of fucking cauldrons. That does not come under ruddy nothing!'

'I'm pretty sure the cauldrons weren't shagging.' I retorted grumpily. She elbowed me in the stomach. 'How did you see me anyway?'

'I saw you jump behind the cauldrons.' Marlene explained. 'Now explain yourself or I swear I'll fucking rip your head off.' I stared at her in alarm. Surely, she wasn't serious; with Marlene it was always hard to tell.

'I was hiding from James.' I mumbled. Without warning she grabbed my arm and pulled me into a little side alley. She didn't stop dragging me until we had reached a load of wooden boxes which she pushed me onto before sitting down herself.

'Spill.' I fiddled with my shopping bags for a moment before reaching to tug my plait and then remembering my hair was in a bun.

'I slept with him.'

'You shagged Potter!' She yelled into the alley and I covered her mouth absolutely mortified.

'Not so loud!' I whispered as she pushed my hand away.

'Sorry.' She stage-whispered in response and I elbowed her.

'This is serious!' I told her crossly.

'Sooooo…when did it happen?'

'You know I went round to his…well…then…'

'Then?'

'At his house on our kind of date!' I exclaimed impatiently.

'Right?' Marlene frowned at me. 'I'm not seeing how this leads to you hiding behind some fucking cauldrons.'

'Well, it was all fine while I was still at his. I mean, I ended up staying the night…obviously…and then I went back home in the morning. My dad just grinned at me and said "Good date?" so that was fine but then I stopped at my mum's grave on the way back from the shops. I had some flowers for her and…'

'And?'

'And I started thinking about what she'd have said about me having sex with someone I wasn't even officially in a relationship with. Then I remembered I'm Lily Evans and Lily Evans doesn't sleep with people who she isn't dating. I'm not even sure what James and I are. What kind of slag am I if I'm not even James' girlfriend and I'm sleeping with him?'

'Lily, you're not a fucking slag!' Marlene cried exasperatedly. 'You're like the least slaggy person I've ever met. You were your school skirt on your fucking knee for fuck's sake! A real slag can't admit she's a slag.'

'Thanks Marls.' I muttered darkly.

'If Potter hasn't made things official then that's his fucking problem and he's a wanker.'

'I just can't face him.' I whispered.

'Was it shit? Is that the issue?'

'N-no… I just… I shouldn't have…' I paused. 'I don't know how to explain it…'

'No, no. I know what you mean. You enjoyed it but you don't feel ready to do it again?'

'Yeah.'

'Well, if Potter can't fucking appreciate that then he's not worth a fucking second of your time. If I've learnt anything from the times I've had break downs in front of you is that you should tell him that.'

'I don't think he even thinks there's anything wrong. We've been writing to each other all holiday and when I got my Head girl badge I told him. He got Head boy so I congratulated him.'

'Lily Evans and James Potter… Hogwarts Head boy and girl.' Marlene nodded. 'Sounds good. Still…you should tell him how you feel.'

'When did you get so sappy?' I asked as I hugged her.

'I AM NOT FUCKING SAPPY!' Marlene shouted indignantly before we looked at each other and burst out laughing.

* * *

Unfortunately for me, I was invited to the Potter's for the last week of the Holidays. My plan to avoid James was slightly scuppered and although Marlene had told me to talk to James I didn't really want to. But it would be rude to say no so I packed my things for school (the Potters would take me to Kings Cross) and mournfully hummed some Elton John. I picked up my three photo frames and looked at the pictures with a small smile. One was of me and all my mates at Mary's wedding. When you looked at the picture to begin with everyone in it was in the formation instructed by the photographer but after a while we would grow bored and start moving around. I watched as Sirius tackled James to the ground and the two of them wrestled as Andrew carried Mary out of the picture. Alice and Frank entwined their hands and started slow dancing while Kieran and Marlene threw confetti at each other. Peter and I seemed to be engaged in in a debate of some kind as Remus attempted to break up the wrestling match between James and Sirius.

The next picture was a drawing of my parents, Tuney and I from when I was about 6 years old. I placed both photo frames in my trunk and looked at the last one. This photograph was extremely recent. It was of the Marauders by Sirius' flying motorbike. If you continued to watch, Sirius would often fly out of the picture with James on the back as Remus and Peter tried to get them back down again. Placing that photograph atop the others I closed my trunk and dragged it into my hallway. My dad waited there for me and I hugged him tightly. I wouldn't see him again until Christmas.

'I-I-I'll miss you.' I whispered into his chest.

'I'll see you again tomorrow.' He said with a laugh. I had decided to apparate back every day to do my cleaning job and do my shift at the bakery every other day. But it wasn't the same as staying at home.

'It's not the same.' I responded as there was a knock on the front door. We let go of each other and he went to answer the door. As the open door revealed James, I let out a small gasp. Luckily, it was quiet enough to mask with a cough.

'Got a cold?' James asked from the door.

'No… Just choking on some air.' I answered with my heart thumping loudly. Why the hell didn't I agree? That would've been a great excuse for my awkwardness.

'Right.' He grinned. 'Hey, Mr Evans.' My dad nodded in response as I pulled my trunk towards the door.

'Ready?' James asked as he put his hand on my trunk. With both of us holding on to it tightly, we disapparated and rematerialized in the Potter's entrance hall.

'Lily!' Mrs Potter cried from in front of me. I was promptly embraced and I heard James and Mr Potter laugh as she almost knocked me back.

'How are you, Mrs Potter?'

'Coping but it'll be nice to have some female company.' She let go and turned to glower at the two men. 'I'll show you to your room so you can put your things away.' I watched James' face fall and Mr Potter began to chuckle at his son's expression.

'But m-' James began but closed his mouth as Mrs Potter fixed him with a look. My face split into a small smile as I tried not to laugh. I followed Mrs Potter up the large staircase and down a corridor into the room I'd stayed in at Christmas.

'I'm glad you've come to stay, Lily.' She said as she closed the door behind us. 'James really cares for you.' Unsure of how to respond I just nodded. 'I know I shouldn't really say this but ever since first year he's talked about you and I always knew he'd end falling for you.'

'Oh.' I answered going slightly pink.

'He's had girlfriends over the years but he's never invited them over. I knew the second that he invited you for Christmas that you were someone special to him.'

'Oh.' I said again. Wow, I was articulate.

'As his mother I always want the best for him and Harry's just the same. But we're old… and that means we won't be around forever. I think I'll be content knowing you'll look after him when I can't.'

'I'll try my best, Mrs Potter.' She smiled tearfully at me and pulled me into another hug.

'When you become my daughter-in-law I'll be the happiest mother-in-law in the world.' My eyes widened in shock.

'I…'

'I know you're not there yet but I know true love when I see it.' Mrs Potter gave me a final squeeze before letting go. 'I'll leave you to your unpacking. Call for Layla if you need anything.'

I began unpacking my clothes into the wardrobe at the far end of the room. Although I left my school uniform in my trunk, I took out my three photographs and put them on the bedside table on the left side of the double bed. Once I'd finished, I fell back onto the bed and closed my eyes. I only slept for a few minutes and was jerked into full wakefulness as someone knocked on the door. I sat up to see James enter the room.

'I was planning to creep up on you sleeping but…' He began and flopped down beside me.

'But you felt you couldn't do such a thing to such a poor defenceless female.'

'I've long learnt my lesson on that topic.' He said with a snort. 'You are nothing near defenceless.'

'Taught you well, have I?'

'Of course.' I could feel him smirking.

'Well, we couldn't have you being a sexist prick. Just think of the amount of girls who'd punch you.'

'I've been punched enough by you.' James replied entwining his hand in mine.

'Mmm…' I murmured as my eyelids fluttered shut once more.

'It's rude to fall asleep when someone's talking to you.'

'Really?' I said with my eyes still shut. 'I thought you'd finished.'

'What did mother want to talk to you about?'

'Who said she wanted to talk to me about anything?' I answered and opened my eyes.

'Lils, I'll tickle you…'

'Abstinence.' I replied with a smirk. James spluttered next to me and sat up.

'She what!?'

'I really don't see what the problem is.' I said innocently. 'She's your mum. Why wouldn't I be honest with her?'

'You told her?' He asked incredulously. The expression on James' face was priceless and for a few moments I struggled to contain my laughter before failing miserably. I clutched him as I snorted with mirth.

'S-she just wanted to say she was glad I was staying over.' I gasped for air as another batch of chuckles rolled out of me. I felt James' torso relax at my words.

'Lils?'

'Mmm?'

'Will you be my girlfriend?' Outside I could hear rain starting to pound against the window. Oh, Britain…

'Yes.' My laughter stopped and I looked at James. I could see his individual eyelashes through his glasses. His hazel eyes sparkled with warmth and the gold flecks seemed to dance. Slowly, I closed my eyes as lips met. James tongue entered my mouth and I responded gladly. A few minutes of bliss followed.

'DINNER!' Mr Potter bellowed from down the corridor and we sprung apart. James' glasses were askew and his shirt incredible ruffled. I must have looked a similar state so I straightened my clothes and patted my braid.

* * *

A late August storm raged outside my room as I shifted in my bed and pulled the covers tighter around myself. Despite the lateness of the hour, I couldn't sleep and simply stared at the ceiling. Ruddy sleep. It never turned up when you wanted it. The sound of the storm outside was strangely comforting and I listened to the howls of the wind as I rolled on to my side.

'What th-' I began as I caught sight of James lying beside me in his pyjamas and grinning mischievously. 'How long have you been there?'

'Long enough.'

'That…' I started whacking him with my pillow. 'Is…Not…An...Answer!'

'You're not very hard to creep up on when you're thinking.' He answered and wrestled the pillow from my grasp. Curse his muscles!

'Your parents will kill both of us if they find you in here.' I muttered as I snuggled into him.

'And yet you're sleeping on me.' James pointed out.

'Someone nicked my pillow so you'll have to pay the price.'

'Who was that bastard?' He asked with mock anger.

'I don't know… Bet they're ugly.'

'You!' James exclaimed and dumped himself on top of me.

'Hmph!' I wriggled underneath his weight. 'Keep your voice down!'

'Don't worry, Lils.' He murmured into my ear and kissed my ear lobe. 'They're at the other end of the house.' We began kissing passionately and as James' body pressed against mine I felt _something_. Shit. His hands moved their way down my torso.

'J-James.' I said and he stopped.

'What is it?' He asked breathing heavily.

'I-I-I c-can't do this…' I whispered looking away from him. James rolled off me as I turned to face the bedside table. He put his hand on my arm but I continued to look away. 'I'm sorry, James, b-but I'm not ready to do it again.'

'Oh…right.'

'I should've told you sooner but I couldn't. I just avoided you and pretended everything was fine.' There was silence between us as James removed his arm.

'Why didn't you tell me?' He asked quietly but I thought I heard some anger in his voice.

'I-I was embarrassed.' I could feel my cheeks heating up.

'Embarrassed?'

'Well… You know… You're James Potter! It's no secret that you've shagged girls before and well… I just felt stupid admitting to someone who's had sex loads that I wasn't ready. Don't get me wrong – I don't regret anything about my night at your place but it made me realise that I wasn't ready. It's not who I am I suppose. I guess I was worried you'd be disappointed.'

'Lils, if you're not ready then you're not ready. I'd never be disappointed in you for something like that.' His hand entwined itself in mine. 'You and me against the world, yeah?'

'Yeah.' I answered with a small smile. The wind howled outside the walls of the Potter mansion but there in my bed with my hand in James' nothing could detour my mood. And my hand remained where it was all through the night and when Mrs Potter poked her head in the neck morning she let out a scream which caused James to fall out of bed in shock. My laughter continued all through that morning.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Back to school next chapter! Yay! Did you enjoy this chapter?**

 **Please review :)**


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

 **A/N: We've reached chapter flipping 50! Who thought we'd get there? I wasn't sure we would but here we all are. It's back to school for our favourite characters! Yay!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The journey to Hogwarts was an uneventful one and when the Girls and I entered the Great Hall we simply sat down at the Gryffindor table. Although the bewitched ceiling was quite beautiful, after seeing it for the entirety of our time at Hogwarts, it had rather lost its charm.

'I swear Mulciber gets uglier every time I see him.' Mary muttered in disgust as we took our seats.

'Well, he was always an ugly mug but I guess that's what being a wanker does to you.' Marlene answered. I looked over my shoulder and at the Slytherin table. It was true that he had a surly look about him but over the summer he seemed to have aged considerably. In the candle light, his gaunt cheeks and scar across his cheek made him look more like a skeleton than a 17-year-old boy.

'I hope they hurry up with the food.' Alice grumbled and I chuckled at the sound of her stomach rumbling. Returning my gaze to my friends, I smiled at them but as I opened my mouth to say something Professor Flitwick entered with the Sorting Hat. I quickly closed it again.

'Fuck.' Marlene hissed under her breath. 'Wake me up when the shitty song's done.' She settled her head down on the table and ignored the feeble attempt I made to make her sit up.

The Hat's song focused on the importance of the students uniting and made the first years look like they'd laid one in their pants. James caught my eye and it took all my effort to stop myself sniggering at the new students. I managed to let my mirth out as Gryffindor table began to cheer its first addition. Quickly, I composed myself because as Head girl, I had to set a good example. The Sorting Ceremony dragged by but my composure was tested when Marlene let out a loud snort.

'She's actually gone to sleep.' Mary hissed and she and Alice broke into a silent fit of the giggles. Perhaps she had but then again, her snort had coincided with the name, Eric Pickles, being called out. I managed to keep a straight face.

Eventually the last person was sorted and the Headmaster stood up. Mary shook Marlene's shoulders and she sat up looking slightly confused. I jerked my head in the direction of the staff table and she nodded in understanding.

'Good Evening, everyone. My speech will take place after our delicious feast so for now all I shall say is: Tuck in!' No one needed telling twice and for a moment no one spoke as everyone loaded up their plates. Alice ate with gusto and I laughed at her as I slowly devoured my soup.

'In a rush, Miss Prewitt?' I asked and she shook her head. 'Not hoping to meet a certain man in a broom cupboard later, are we?' Alice's cheeks turned pink as Marlene and Mary snorted into their plates. 'If you are, a word of warning. James and I are patrolling from 7 till 9 so keep an eye on the time.'

'Thanks, Lily!' Marlene said brightly. 'I'll tell Kieran that in a sec.'

'What are you telling me?' Kieran asked from further up the table.

'Nothing, nothing.' Marlene answered with a smirk and he threw some of his peas at her. Whether Kieran had intentionally caused the event that followed I had no idea but it started with Marlene's retaliation. She threw some of her carrots back and although most hit their target, a few ricochet off Kieran's face and knocked into Peter. He let out what sounded like a battle cry and both Peter and Kieran began to pelt mashed parsnip in Marlene's direction. The fluffy substance rained down on Marlene and Mary so both girls began grabbing the food nearest them and hurling them at the two boys. Aim was soon forgotten and more and more Gryffindors joined in as food hit them by accident. When the Marauders took up throwing mashed potato I knew there was no hope. I glanced at the teacher's table, where the Professors looked unsure of whether to laugh or shout, and then made an attempt to calm everyone down. Unfortunately, my instructions were met with a face full of mash, thrown by the Head boy/my boyfriend, so I gave up. The Gryffindor first years looked slightly terrified by the food fight but soon forgot their fears and joined in. Other Houses began to join the fun and after ten minutes every student was throwing food. I wasn't sure if I could join in because I was Head girl and had to set an example but then I saw Professor McGonagall bewitch a load of boiled potatoes to fly at the Headmaster.

* * *

After the feast, James, Remus and I began shepherding the first years to Gryffindor tower. As we left the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall called my fellow Head and I back so we had to abandon Remus. We followed her silently through corridor after corridor until we reached a portrait of a line of young males and females wearing black robes. I blinked.

'Are those…'

'Former Head boys and girls? Yes.' Professor McGonagall answered with an amused smile. 'I believe you'll recognise a few, Miss Evans.'

'A few?' I burst out incredulously. 'That's Amelia Shacklebolt! The most popular Head girl Hogwarts has ever had!' A girl, in the painting, with dark curls beamed at me as a boy ruffled her hair affectionately. 'He's Lorenzo Blaise! He led a campaign responsible for the abolition of Muggleborn segregation at Hogwarts! And that's… Sorry…' I flushed and looked at the ground after James shot me a strange look.

'Should you wish to know the history of the Head girls and boys, Mr Potter, I'm sure Miss Evans will be happy to oblige.' I turned a brighter scarlet as James laughed. 'You two may choose a password because this is the entrance to the Heads' common room which is for your use as Head boy and girl.'

'What do you think?' James asked turning to me. I shrugged.

'What would you remember easily?'

'Abstinence.' He answered loudly with an irritatingly handsome smirk. Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless.

'I hate you.' I muttered and shoved James lightly as we walked behind Professor McGonagall into the Heads' common room. The room was a large with a roaring fireplace one side. Some squashy sofas and armchairs faced it and I could easily envisage myself spending many evenings reading a book cosied up in one of the armchairs. On the other side of the room was a large table with chairs around it which would be useful for discussing Head matters. At the back of the room was what looked like a post box and two doors. On the right door, it said _Lily Evans_ and on the left door _James Potter_.

'Every morning and evening any post for you two will be delivered here. You each have your own office which can have separate passwords on them also should you wish it. I recommend creating a password for security reasons.' She paused. 'I shall leave you two to settle in.'

Once Professor McGonagall left, I pushed open the door to my office and peered inside. My heart leapt with excitement – all the walls were covered with books. The window gave a view of the grounds and I sighed with content as I looked at the beautiful mahogany desk in the centre of the room. The chair behind it was a highbacked purple leather chair and upon testing it, I discovered it was extremely comfortable. There was a large cupboard in the corner of the room which opened to reveal a spare set of school uniform, a pillow and duvet, a cauldron and best of all, chocolate. The school knew me too well…

James popped his head round the door.

'You ready to go on rounds? It's 2 minutes to 7.'

The school day had begun so the Girls and I made our way towards the dungeons for Potions. The start of term tiredness hung like a dusty cloak, though Marlene's fatigue was for an altogether different reason.

'I swear I'm going to fucking collapse in Sluggy's lesson. If he catches me just say I died or something.'

'Why should we cover for your slaggy behaviour?' Mary asked disgruntled.

'Are you calling me a fucking slag?' Marlene snarled and I hastily stepped in between the two whilst Alice chuckled at them.

'Not a fucking slag. Just a slag.' She replied innocently but Marlene growled slightly. Instinctively, I held out an arm to stop Marlene launching herself at Mary.

'Though I suppose she is fucking.' Alice added. It took all my effort to hold Marlene back.

'Really? Was that entirely necessary?' I snapped at the other two as Marlene fought against my grasp.

'She was the one shagging Kieran till 3 in the morning.' Mary responded. I glowered at them and Marlene wrestled harder against my hold. Eventually, she pushed past me and a split second later the three of them were on the floor. Kicking and scratching did not even begin to describe their cat-fight.

'Guys… Please stop…' I said lamely and attempted to separate them but to no avail. 'Stop it! You're 17 not-' Marlene punched Mary directly in the eye. I inhaled deeply and attempted to prise the three of them apart. 'STOP IT!' I bellowed. The three of them stopped in shock at my yelling. 'All three of you are in detention for a week! I'm docking 20 points each and-'

'We're your mates!' Mary argued. 'You can't just-'

'I am Head girl!' I retorted. 'And I have every right to give detention to three fighting 7th years!'

With that I stormed off and almost crashed into a first year when I turned the corner. Hastily, I stepped back and fixed my face into a smile so as not to frighten the tiny Slytherin girl, who was clutching her much too large school bag. She eyed me nervously.

'Are you alright?' I asked softly. Kneeling down, so I looked like I was getting something from my bag but in reality I just didn't want to be at an intimidating height for her, I smiled at her.

'I'm not lost.' She said determinately. 'I'm just exploring.'

'And where are you planning on exploring to?'

'I'm not sure.'

'How about to a lesson?'

'I'm not sure which lesson I have.'

'What does your timetable say?'

'I forgot to get one at breakfast.' She mumbled and looked at the floor. I heard her sniff loudly.

'You're in Slytherin, right?'

'Yes.' The girl looked at me with tea.

'Well, I was just on my way to Potions class and my teacher just happens to be the Head of your House. Maybe you could come with me and we could get you a timetable… If it's convenient that is.' I told her nonchalantly.

'Okay.' She replied and gathered herself up. I pulled a tissue out of my bag before standing up and handing it to her. 'I'm not crying.' The girl insisted as we began to move in the direction of the dungeons. Despite her denial, she accepted the tissue and blew her nose loudly. We reached Slughorn's classroom and I saw some of my class already waiting outside. Severus and his friends were among them as were Sirius and James (Remus and Peter didn't take potions).

'Madeline!' Mulciber snapped at the girl. 'What are you doing with that Mudblood?' Madeline turned to face me with wide eyes.

'You take that back!' James roared as he and Sirius moved over to where Mulciber and Severus stood with their wands out.

'Everyone just calm down.' I cried desperately and well aware that this scene was seconds away from a fight.

'She'll take your magic, that little Mudblood!'

'Don't worry, Mulciber.' I answered with a bored voice. 'I nicked my magic long before I got here. If I'd waited it would've all been mediocre – especially with you around.' Madeline had stepped back from me slightly and although that saddened me, I was Head girl and I'd said I'd help her. I entered the classroom and saw Slughorn was hovering over some potions at the front of the room. However, he turned around as I came in.

'Lily, my dear! It's still two minutes until lessons begin.' He said beaming at me. 'Eager to start potion making?'

'Of course, Sir.' I smiled at him. 'But this is about Head girl duties. One of your first years forgot to take a timetable at breakfast. I was wondering if you had a spare…' Slughorn rifled around his desk and pulled out a small piece of paper.

'Here it is, my dear.' He handed it to her. 'I remember when I was young… That was a long time ago, of course.' Slughorn closed his eyes as though lost in his memories and I took it as my chance to leave. I heard the bell ring through the corridors. There was a fight raging on outside the classroom and Madeline cowered by the wall. Everyone was beating everyone else and in my frustration, I flicked my wand and they all were levitated into the air and bound in ropes.

'You can explain yourselves when Professor Slughorn lets you down.' I glanced at James, who had a bloody lip. 'Mudblood is just a word.' I said and gestured for Madeline to follow me. She did so reluctantly and kept a wary distance from me. 'So, you know Mulciber?'

'He's my brother.' She responded with a disdainful glance in my direction.

'Ah… I can see the likeness. You both have the same eyes.'

'Don't say that.' Madeline whispered as we walked. Her timetable said she had Transfiguration first so I was taking her there.

'Brown is a perfectly nice colour. I should know… my b-'

'Don't say blood.'

'I was going to say my boyfriend has hazel eyes.' I told her and she looked at the floor. Then she stopped. It took me a moment to realise she was crying. 'Hey, hey. It's okay..'

'I-I-I'm sorry.' She sobbed as I knelt in front of her and produced another tissue which she took gratefully. 'You've been so nice to me a-and…' Madeline cried for another 10 minutes and I attempted to comfort her. Finally, she calmed down and we continued on our way to her classroom.

'You know, I cried on my first day.'

'Really?'

'Yes. A boy in my class spilt pickled rats' brains all over me.' I said reminiscently. 'I spent the whole of dinner crying in the toilets.'

'That's horrible! Who was he?'

'James Potter.' I shook my head. 'He was an idiot then. Not so much now but he has his moments.'

'My brother doesn't like him. He says he's big-headed.' She paused. 'He's called him other things but he says I'm too young to hear them.'

'You don't have to believe everything your brother says.' I told her as we reached her classroom. I knocked on the door and handed Madeline her timetable. 'If you need help finding a classroom just look on the back.' I tapped the back of the timetable with my wand and a small map appeared. 'It'll change depending on what lesson you have.'

The classroom door opened and Professor McGonagall frowned at me.

'Miss Evans?'

'Sorry to disturb you, Professor. Madeline was just helping me with some Head girl business. It was my fault completely… I hope she didn't miss anything.'

'Of course not, Miss Evans. Miss Mulciber, I believe your seat is in the middle row.' I smiled at Madeline encouragingly as she nervously entered the classroom.

'I'd best be going.' I thanked Professor McGonagall and hurried back to my Potions class. When I entered the dungeon, Slughorn greeted me.

'Lily, my dear, you'll be working with Mr Potter.' I nodded and took a seat at the back next to James. His lip still bore a deep cut and although I was tempted to heal it, Slughorn began lecturing.

* * *

It was strange how lonely it could be when you were angry at your best friends. I spent my days in the Founder's Library or in my office. As Head girl and a 7th year there was always something to do and I used my workload as an excuse to avoid everyone. Supervising detentions, although dull, didn't encourage any extra visitors so I was safe to make sure the third years, who fancied themselves the next generation of Marauders, didn't talk and only wrote out their lines or cleaned or completed homework. Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow every time I asked her if there was something she wanted me to do but complied anyway. Slughorn was delighted when I asked him if he wanted help organising his Slug club and I was delighted that we were at school for 39 weeks of the year because it meant there were plenty of monthly prefect patrol routers to make.

Currently, it was midnight and I sat in the Head girl's office and poured over my Transfiguration essay. I had a book on animagi propped open next to me but I found myself wishing I could ask James or at least Sirius, Remus or Peter. I missed the Girls too but they were waring with each other and I knew my intervention would do nothing. Alice and Mary had sided together and Marlene was on her own. I had attempted to reconcile them but that had gone as well as the time I'd given them detentions.

I sighed and walked over to the window. The grounds were dark and still but still quite beautiful. A light breeze tickled the Forbidden Forest and I watched as a Thestral flew up out of the trees. There was a knock on door.

'Lils?' James' voice asked softly from the other side of the door. 'Can I come in?' I walked reluctantly over to the door and opened it. James stood in the doorway with a bunch of roses. I would have said no but his lopsided smile made me melt slightly.

'Fine.' I gave in and stepped aside. James walked slowly in and held out the roses.

'These are for you.' I accepted them with a smile and hastily put them in a vase. As I did so, James put his arms around my waist from behind and nuzzled his head into my neck. 'I miss you… We miss you. Everyone misses you.'

'I'm still here.'

'You've been avoiding us.' James accused and I didn't deny it.

'I got everyone detentions. That's not exactly a popular move.'

'Well… We deserved it. I'm Head boy. I shouldn't have risen to Mulciber's comment.' James kissed my neck. 'I'm sorry.'

'I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have tied you up.'

'Admittedly, that was the first time I've been tied up by a woman for completely pure reasons.' I elbowed him in the stomach and the two of us laughed.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter! I was struggling a bit writing this but I managed it in the end.**

 **Please review :)**


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

 **A/N: Did you like the last chapter? I hope so. It took me ages to write last chapter so hopefully this one doesn't take as long.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

Freya McMillan was the first student at Hogwarts to lose a family member. I knew this because I was the one who had to tell her she had. As Head girl and boy, James and I had the duty of delivering the news of deaths to students. It was thought that such news coming from someone more the receivers age would be a bigger comfort than if a teacher told them. Our private mail box had received a black trimmed envelope with a scroll attached to it. James and I had had a free period so we'd opened the scroll together. The scroll was from Professor McGonagall and the contents informed us of our duty. We then set out to deliver the envelope to Freya McMillan and that was what we were currently doing – walking to her classroom. She had Divination so we took a little while to reach North Tower. The Divination class were all sitting cross-legged with their eyes shut on the floor beneath the trapdoor they usually used to reach their classroom. Professor Conan wandered in between them encouraging deep breaths.

'Ah, Miss Evans and Mr Potter.' He smiled politely and 15 eyes snapped open. 'What can I do for you?'

'Can we borrow, Freya McMillan?' James asked and I nodded next to him.

'Yes, of course.' Freya stood up and picked up her bag before coming over to where we stood. We led her away and entered the first empty classroom we came across. I gestured for her to sit down as I perched myself on one of the desks. James hovered behind me. She sat.

'W-we have some news for you…' I said quietly and pulled out the envelope. Her eyes widened as she saw it but she kept herself composed. Watching her open and read the letter was a truly heart-breaking moment. The way her faced moved from ill-concealed worry to shear brokenness tugged at every string in my heart. She stood up and leaned against one of the desks. Then she screamed.

'ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!' Freya bellowed at the desk before completely breaking down into sobs and sinking to the floor. I knelt down beside her and rubbed her back reassuringly.

'Is there someone we could get for you?' I asked her kindly. She continued to wail for a moment.

'D-D-Da-Daniel.' She stammered and burst into tears once more.

'Daniel Jackson?' Freya only nodded in response and I glanced at James who understood and hurried off to find Daniel Jackson. I wasn't the best with crying people so I simply attempted to offer her words of comfort. Comforting had never exactly been my forte but I tried. 'It's going to be okay…'

'N-no it's not.' She wailed. 'My sister's dead!'

'My mum died.' I told her. I wasn't sure why I'd said that but in a way, it felt like the right thing to admit. Freya didn't respond so I kept talking. 'Death Eaters attacked my home town and she was at home so… I think they collapsed the house and she was inside it.'

'I n-never knew that.' She mumbled. I put an arm around her in comforting fashion.

'It gets better after a while.'

'Does it?'

'Yes – I promise.' We fell into silence for a moment. I opened my mouth to speak but then the door opened and James entered with Daniel Jackson millimetres behind. As soon as Daniel saw Freya he rushed over and I moved back to give the two their space. 'We'll leave you to it. You have permission to miss classes for the day. If anyone asks say I said your allowed.'

James and I left and made our way back to the Head's office. As we walked, James entwined his fingers in mine and I felt my heart warm slightly. I looked at the portraits fussing about and sighed slightly. The life of a portrait was probably a lot nicer than the life of a human and a whole lot simpler. They didn't have to think or eat or exercise or move if they didn't want to. No exercise sounded great…

'Sickle for your thoughts?' James' voice barged into my thoughts as I accidently nudged him.

'A Knut would've been fine but if you want to give me a Sickle go ahead.' I grinned at him as he rolled his eyes.

'Why are you such a smart arse?'

'It's all part of my charm.' I smirked slightly and James' expression changed swiftly.

'You want to be careful where you pull faces like that.' He murmured in my ear causing my skin to tint pink. 'I'm not sure I can resist your face like that.' James stopped and pulled me into a small alcove behind a statue. He kissed me cautiously at first, as though waiting for my permission, but as soon as I began returning his kiss, his tongue began to make its way into my mouth. We snogged behind the statue for a long time and only properly broke apart when the bell signalling second period echoed through the school. 'Just 5 more minutes.' He moaned and a small smile crept on to my face.

'James,' I tutted. 'We're Head boy and girl. We can't be late to lessons! What kind of example does that set?' As I spoke, I began straightening my clothes, which were all crumpled, and re-braiding my hair.

'But I don't want to go to lessons.' He pouted and I laughed, dragging him down the corridor. We had Charms next so we had to hurry slightly and were in such a rush that we almost missed the unconscious figure on the ground. And the pool of blood.

James swore as we noticed the body and I rushed to kneel beside it. A Ravenclaw boy of about 11 lay on the ground on his stomach. I peeled back some of his blood-soaked robes to reveal a large set of slashes. 7. But there was something different about them this time. Something that hadn't been the case with any of the other attacks. The wounds had a strangely blackened look to them and the exposed flesh was green-tinged.

I flicked my wand and immediately sent Themis off to fetch Madame Pomfrey. Then I took of my black school robes and jumper before kneeling beside the boy. James knelt down on his other side.

'Check his breathing.' I instructed as I attempted to find a pulse. As with most people who had lost a lot of blood, his pulse was weak and irregular.

'He's breathing.' James confirmed and I nodded. We set to work. The wounds were in such a strange state that I wasn't sure what to do with them. I tried all the healing spells I knew, even the ones from the Founder's Library, and none worked but in a way, I had suspected they wouldn't. We tried applying pressure to the wounds using bandages I conjured but found as the bandage touched the gash it would turn black and crumble into a pile of ashes. The only thing we had to help the boy was the blood replenishing potion I stored in my office and summoned to where we were. But it wouldn't last forever and Madame Pomfrey still hadn't arrived.

The only thing left was to clean the wounds by hand (healing spells did that as they healed) and wait until Madame Pomfrey arrived. As Head boy and girl, we'd already yelled at a few students to go through another corridor and eventually blocked it off with ropes and a sign – magically placed of course.

'Maybe we should get another teacher.' I suggested as I tried cleaning one of the slashes. The wound seemed to hiss as I cleaned it and a second later and a waft of green smoke was emitted.

'Yeah. Good idea.' This time James sent off his patronus and after his stag had left he began staring at the boy lying on the floor. 'Poor little bugger.'

'I'm going to give him another dose of potion.' I announced so I had something to do after realising that cleaning the wounds was as much help as bandaging them. Lifting the boy's unconscious head a little, I tipped some of the potion down his throat. 'It's a good thing he's unconscious for all of this.'

'And why's that?'

'He doesn't know he's losing blood or feel any pain. Some of the attacks I've found, they were awake and I can only imagine how horrible it must've been for them even if they were being healed.'

'Oh.'

'I've never seen wounds like this – in any of the books I've read I mean. I haven't done enough healing to say that regarding practical situations.' I fumbled for a moment in my schoolbag and pulled out a book Alice had given me as a present in 4th year. I'd come across it by chance whilst packing by trunk in the summer holidays. It was an extremely advance magical healing book and I was only halfway through reading the thick volume having never read it before as when I'd received it, it had been far too difficult for me to understand. Now it was still a difficult read but at least it was comprehensible. Luckily, it had a diagram for every spell so I flicked through to see if there were any vaguely resembling the slashes in the Ravenclaw boy. None whatsoever.

James squeezed my hand as my breath picked up pace upon realising this. Calm. I needed to keep calm. We sat in silence watching the boy and I wondered were Professor McGonagall was. Both of the adults we'd sent for hadn't arrived and we were simply sitting next to a boy who at this rate would die. Perhaps we could conjure stretcher and bring him to the Hospital Wing.

'Right.' I said, breaking the silence and standing up. I conjured a stretcher and together James and I carefully lifted the boy onto it. With a flick of his wand, James vanished the blood and then I levitated the stretcher before us. We walked with purpose and met no gawping students as lessons were well underway by now. Due to our pace, we soon reached the Hospital Wing and James pushed open the door. There was an eerie silence as we entered and no sign of Madame Pomfrey.

'Madame Pomfrey!' James called out. No response. We laid the boy to rest on one of the beds and I slipped him another dose of blood replenishing potion. 'Wait here.'

I nodded and watched the boy worriedly as James headed off to Madame Pomfrey's office to see if she was there. A second later and I heard James swear loudly.

'What is it?' I asked nervously as he staggered out of the office.

'She's out cold.'

'Stunned or something else?' I asked still not taking my eyes of the boy bleeding in the hospital bed.

'How should I know?' James responded snappily. His harsh tone shook me slightly but I shrugged it off. We were both stressed.

'If you keep an eye on the student I'll see if I can wake her up.' He gave a grunt of assent and once he was by my side I moved swiftly towards the office. The sight before me was extremely disconcerting. Madame Pomfrey sat slumped in her chair behind her desk with her head lolling to one side. Her skin was a greyish tinge but a pink flush still radiated underneath it – she was definitely still alive. I knelt beside her and examined her eyes which were wide open in a scared looking manner. It was however, like someone had pulled shutters across them as they were unmoving and unresponsive. I did notice that they were slightly bloodshot. That indicated that this was not a spell enforced unconsciousness. A poison maybe? Despite this guess, I tried reviving her with a spell which, of course, didn't work.

I moved slowly back out of the office, thinking I would fetch my potions kit from my office and perhaps find a teacher myself as Themis clearly wasn't working. James had sat down of the bed beside the boy with the bottle of blood replenishing potion in his hand. I watched him play with it absentmindedly for a moment before remembering the task in hand.

'I'm going to get my potions kit and see if I can get help.' He nodded and shifted his position slightly. I hurried out of the hospital wing and in the direction of the Head's offices. As I rushed on, I past my Charms classroom and heard and absolute ruckus happening inside it. Cautiously, I poked my head inside as was met by a scene of ink pellets and parchment being thrown left right and centre. There was no sign of Professor Flitwick which was extremely odd considering it was a good 30 minutes into the lesson. Remus caught sight of me and immediately backed down from throwing a couple of ink bottles at Sirius. He paid for this pause with an ink well in the face. 'Remus… Where's Professor Flitwick?'

'H-He hasn't turned up.' Remus answered as he ducked his way over to me.

'Right…' I paused. 'I'm going to find a teacher and I'll fill you in once I've done that. Try and keep this lot in order… This classroom looks great by the way.'

'Oh shut up.' Remus nudged me and I smiled slightly before leaving the classroom and changing course for Professor Flitwick's office. I knocked on the door and then entered after there was nothing but silence from inside it. Professor Flitwick sat in his desk chair with the same panicked expression as Madame Pomfrey and just like her, he was unconscious. Deciding I would get my potions kit and look in to all the classrooms beforehand.

Every classroom I passed was just as my Charms class: in chaos and teacherless. All the teacher's offices I looked in, the teachers were in the same, unconscious and terrified state. Shit. I rushed into my office and hurriedly grabbed my potions kit. As I moved back through the Head common room, my gaze glanced at a small radio on the table. This radio, I'd discovered, could be spoken into and the message would be announced throughout the school. I walked over to it and switched it on. I cleared my throat nervously.

'Attention all students. Everyone is required to return to their House common rooms immediately. Please wait there to receive further instructions and information. Prefects please head to the Hospital Wing. Thank you.'

Hopefully, people would listen to the message. As far as I was aware, all the adult members of staff were unconscious and I had no idea how to handle such a situation. But I was Head girl so I had to do something. I hurried back to the Hospital Wing and let in the Prefects who had already arrived. James looked up as we entered but didn't look confused. Evidently, he'd heard the announcement also.

I indicated for everyone to sit and although everyone looked calm enough, their eyes kept glancing at the Ravencalw boy lying unconscious on the hospital bed.

'Umm…' Now there were several people listening to me, I felt slightly awkward. 'The teachers are unconscious and I'm not sure why, as is Madame Pomfrey. There are no adults conscious at the moment as far as I'm aware. I still haven't checked to see if Professor Dumbledore or Hagrid are the same but the rest are. As you are all Prefects, I need you to step in and take their place.'

I looked at James who looked thoughtful. Then he caught my eye and stood up.

'We'll have to split tasks.' James began with authority. '5th year Prefects, you're supervising your Houses and making sure everyone's in their common rooms. 6th years, you're patrolling the corridors and 7th years some of you will be reviving teachers and the rest of you bringing in unconscious members of staff or anyone else you find. Any questions?' No one answered so James clapped his hands and the Prefects split.

'If 5 of you plus James could fetch the teachers and then 3, including me, will stay behind me.' James, Remus, Freya, Ben, Michel Boot and Miriam Reid left leaving behind Annabel Palmer, George Abbott (he replaced Tom as a Prefect) and I in the Hospital Wing. 'George if you could make a start on some blood replenishing potion.' I instructed and pulled a cauldron out of Madame Pomfrey's office. George and Annabel carried the Hogwarts Matron to a bed. I hauled my own cauldron to next to the Ravenclaw boy and Annabel followed me. 'I'm going to some wound analysis so if you could help me that would be great. We'll have to some blood tests when the teachers get here.'

Out of my potion kit, I pulled a scalpel and with it a scraped off a little of the greenish tinge flesh. Once I had my sample, I went over to a cleared table at the side of the room and set to work. I put the sample in my cauldron and Annabel and I began adding ingredients that would create a concoction to counteract its, what looked like, infection. I hoped that the healing spells would word once the strange colour of the wounds were dealt with.

The first teacher was brought in and as Annabel continued with the sample, I began taking some of the blood of Madame Pomfrey and some of the professor's. Each of the scarlet substances I decantered into vials and then rifled around in the medicine cabinets to see if the Hospital Wing had any blood analysis potion. It did and I pulled out a large red bottle with a pipet for a lid. On the back label of the bottle was a colour chart saying what every colour the blood turned after adding the potion meant. To each vial I added a single drop and both turned a dark inky black that seemed to burn with intensity. A poison induced sleep. Interesting…

There were no cauldrons left in the room so I transfigured a bedside vase into one and set about making a potion. The Wiggenheld potion could revive people under the effects of the Draught of Living Death so if it could reverse the most powerful sleeping potion in the world then it could also do it now. More teachers arrived as I added the ingredients and as I left it to simmer for a moment Annabel announced she had finished her potion. We began dabbing the liquid onto the Ravenclaw boy's wounds and to our relief they began to change back to the colour red. Then I muttered a healing spell and after a few seconds all the slashes were healed. George tipped another dose of blood replenishing potion down his throat then all three of us hovered around the Wiggenheld potion. After a tense 10 minutes the potion had finished simmering and we ladled it into some glasses Annabel fetched into the cupboard. Each of us took two glasses and gave the potion to the unconscious adults. One by one they woke but all groggy and confused. It took them a long time to realise where they were and even longer to remember anything. As Professor McGonagall was brought in and given some potion my heart pounded loudly against my chest. Perhaps it was the fact that I was seeing a teacher who I so revered and admired helpless that made me so scared. But she awoke and after a few hours all the teachers were conscious once more.

All was explained to the newly revived adults and I excused myself. I was tired and wanted to go to bed so I hurried back to Gryffindor Tower. However, as I reached the portrait hole I saw a small, sobbing figure and rushed towards them, tugging at my plait apprehensively. As I knelt down before them, they obviously sensed I was there and looked up with red puffy eyes. It was Madeline.

'What's wrong?' I asked her softly as she began to wail again. She flinched slightly as I reached out and squeezed her hand.

'I-I-I...' Tears continued to pour down her cheeks but her eyes were clearly nervous.

'It's okay... You can tell me..'

'I-I know s-s-something...' She stammered. I noticed her eyes began to feverishly scan the corridor.

'There's no one here except the two of us... It's okay...' I attempted to reassure her but she shook her head mouthing wordlessly. Madeline's eyes widened fearfully and she stood up, edging away from me. Turning around, I looked around the corridor we were in but saw nothing.

'I shouldn't be here.' And she made to run away but I caught her arm.

'How about we go somewhere no one can spy on us?' I suggested. Her mind seemed to be conflicted: go with me and there was still a small chance she would caught by whoever she was afraid of or not go and leave me knowing she knew something and perhaps telling someone this.

'Fine.' Madeline arranged her features to a slightly haughty look, which I assumed she was using to regain some distinction, but I struggled at the sight of a first year attempting to look intimidating. I led the way to my office and indicated for her to sit as I looked around my cupboard for some chocolate. I offered Madeline some and she accepted it cautiously.

'It's just chocolate.' I told her with amusement entering my tone of voice and she bit into it sheepishly. 'So...'

'My brother poisoned the food at the staff table.' She mumbled and I stared at her.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter's going to be exciting… I hope so anyway.**

 **Please review :)**


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

 **A/N: Welcome back! Yay! We're back for another chapter. There was a lot of chaos last chapter and I hope you liked it.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The number of students receiving black trimmed envelopes increased steadily over the next few weeks. Aurors were stationed around the school grounds and inside the castle the atmosphere had changed also. Everyone moved around in large groups and Muggleborn students made sure they were accompanied by at least 3 friends at all times. Since the last chaotic attack, fear had hung like a poisonous gas and all the teachers faces had turned grave. It was because of this that I had arranged for all of my mates to meet me in the Heads common room. They all arrived and sat themselves down. I stood before them and felt their curious gazes watch me like a wizard might examine Muggle object.

'We need a plan.' I said finally. Everyone except Sirius nodded.

'I'm still confused.' Sirius said from the armchair he was lounging in. Remus sighed slightly from where he said and threw his cushion at him.

'We need to catch the people behind the attacks.' I clarified and Peter snickered at Sirius' sudden understanding. James watched me with a strange expression and I found myself feel a little nervous under his gaze.

'Anyone got any ideas how?' Alice asked looking around at everyone.

'Well, what do all the attacks have in common?' Mary responded.

'All Muggleborn, all alone and no witnesses.' Marlene ticked the similarities off on her fingers.

'And none of them remember what happened.' Alice added and Mary nodded in agreement.

'7 slashes.' Remus reminded everyone. 'That's the identifier – how we know it's the same attackers.'

'All random time slots though.' Peter said and rubbed his forehead slightly. Everyone fell into silence as we all began to think. I seated myself on the floor and fiddled with my crucifix as I pondered.

'We need bait.' I announced into the room after 5 minutes of complete silence. The Girls all looked at me sharply, their eyes widening as I nodded discreetly. Marlene opened her mouth but snapped it shut as Mary elbowed her in the ribs. She then indicated at the Marauders, who were all nodding at my statement. Alice shook her head subtly at me but I sent her a pleading gaze so she shrugged reluctantly. The silent conversation between the Girls and I went unnoticed by the boys. 'They'll only attack someone who's alone and Muggleborn obviously. We'd need someone to be bait and then everyone else would hide and then reveal themselves at the right moment.'

'That sounds good.' James nodded eagerly and the Girls and I exchanged another glance. Evidently, the boys had not caught on so quickly.

'One of us would have to be bait.' I said and their expressions switched themselves quickly.

'And who would be the bait?' Remus asked slowly.

'Me.' I answered, keeping my gaze determinately away from James. 'They've already attacked Mary so it'll be better if it's me.'

'You can't!' James insisted. 'Not you, Lils! You might get hurt and then…'

'It'll be fine. You lot will be hiding and reveal yourselves before anyone gets hurt.'

'I'll do it.' James said desperately. 'We'll make some Polyjuice and add one of your hairs or something…'

'Polyjuice?' Marlene snorted. 'Yeah, let's make some fucking Polyjuice so we can do this plan in a ruddy month's time after some other poor sod's been attacked. Sounds fucking fantastic.'

'James, I don't mind doing it so you shouldn't mind.' I paused and stood up. 'How about we vote? Who's in favour of me being the bait and everyone else hiding until the right moment?'

Everyone except James raised their hand, though their expressions where reluctant.

'That's a majority. I guess that's the plan.' Perhaps it was the fact that James stood up with an expression that said quite plainly he was about to argue that made everyone else decide they were going to leave.

'Lils, don't do this.' He whispered after everyone had left.

'Mary and I are the only Muggleborns involved and like I said, they've attacked Mary before so they're more likely to want to attack me.'

'But what of they hurt you?'

'You and everyone else'll be there. If something goes wrong then something goes wrong but everything will be fine.'

'I just don't like the-'

'The plan?' I asked in exasperation. 'Well, it's the only one we've got so unless someone comes up with another one, it's all we've got.'

'It's just-'

'James! I am not some damsel in distress! I am perfectly capable of defending myself!' I snapped and turned away. James grabbed one of my hands and pulled me gently towards him. I refused to look at him.

'Lils…' The way he whispered my name tempted me to face him but I resisted. 'I'm just scared you'll get hurt. Lils, you're it for me and if you got hurt… I'd never forgive myself for agreeing to put you in that position in the first place.' With his free hand, he lifted my chin and kissed my forehead. 'I'm sorry, Lils. I know you're not helpless. From the second I met you, I knew that.'

'I'm sorry for shouting at you.' I murmured. We sat down on the sofa facing the fire and watched the flames burn for a while.

'I love you.' James said so quietly that I wasn't sure I'd heard him correctly. My heart rate increased itself rapid as did my breathing. I turned to face him and realised he hadn't been looking towards the fireplace but at me. His gaze was hard and my cheeks blushed profusely.

'I love you too.' I whispered in response as my cheeks flushed an even darker red. And for a while, we could forget the world around us and just live in one with only the two of us in it.

* * *

The morning of our plan dawned and with it came the first batch of snow. I walked into the bathroom and was promptly sick with nerves. Luckily, it was early so no one heard anything. Despite what I reassured everyone after we'd gone through all minute details of the plan for what felt like the hundredth time, I was incredibly apprehensive. I washed my face and changed into my uniform before leaving the bathroom and heading to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was even emptier nowadays because everyone generally moved in large packs meaning those who had eaten early now didn't as the rest of their group refused to do so. Those who still ate early were some of the teachers and some students, like me, who refused to alter their morning routine. I ate my cereal and glanced at a Daily Prophet near me. There had been an anti-Death Eater march that was then attacked in Cornwall which would no doubt result in more black trimmed envelopes. I returned my attention to my breakfast.

Once I'd finished my cereal, I made my way back to the dormitory and cleaned my teeth. As I finished, I heard the Girls get up and waited a moment so that I wouldn't be the victim of Marlene's morning pillow throw before leaving the bathroom. Alice hurried in past me and Mary swore when she realised Alice had beaten her.

'Why does school have to start so early?' She complained.

'It's not that early.' I answered fairly.

'Fuck you, Lily.' Marlene snapped from her bed. 'It's early for me.'

'Yes, well, we all know you'd never get up if it was down to you.' I smirked at her. 'Did you smash you're alarm clock?'

'No, I charmed it to spontaneously combust.' She retorted as she slid out of bed.

'Why are you always so charming in the mornings?' I asked sweetly and she plopped down onto her bed. As Alice left the bathroom, Marlene slouched into it muttering something along the lines of:  
'Bloody James Potter.'

'AAAH!' Mary screamed in frustration as she realised she'd been beaten to the bathroom twice. I laughed at her and she glowered back. 'MARLS!'

* * *

The school day passed quickly, as was custom when something dreaded was occurring later. I ate dinner silently and waited for everyone else to finish eating. Once we were all done, we headed to the Heads common room, where disillusionment charms were placed. Then I left and began wandering through the Hogwarts corridors making sure to take those where there were no paintings whenever possible. The others walked about a corridor behind me (we had agreed on a route) and although I knew them to be nearby I was still extremely nervous. My heart thudded loudly against my chest and it took a lot of will power to stop myself turning around. I took a deep breath and tried to ignore the fact that my legs felt like lead. Fiddling with my crucifix, I continued with my wandering.

I walked for a good 20 minutes without passing anyone but as I reached the 21st minute and turned onto a new corridor, I saw 5 figures moving in my direction. I felt some of my invisible friends pass me and if I looked closely enough, I could see their blurred outlines slip past the 5 figures and wait for their cue. The others remained behind me. Taking another few steps forward, I braced myself. As I saw the faces of the 5, my brain whizzed into action and realised that the five who stood me were not completely the original gang. It was as though all my memory of that conversation in 5th year returned and I remembered their names: Severus, Lestrange, Avery, Bulstrode and Black. Of course, Black and Lestrange had left at the end of 5th year, they had been two years above me, and had now been replaced by Mulciber and Rowle.

'What do we have here?' Rowle sneered. 'A lone mudblood?' The others guffawed.

'I believe the term is Muggleborn.' I said casually, trying to sound braver than I felt.

'Stop trying to be clever, Evans.' Avery snapped. 'You're outnumbered so if I were you, I'd try being a bit nicer.'

'Maybe we'll go easy on you!' Rowle cackled madly and I stepped a little back.

'How kind of you.' I replied coolly. 'I take it that the others you attacked weren't polite.'

'Those mudbloods didn't even see us coming!' Bulstrode gloated. 'Tried to cry for mercy when we attacked them. Ha!' I raised an eyebrow.

'Well, you can hardly expect good manners towards you if you attack people.' I answered. Avery's spell hit me by surprise and I doubled over as a conjured knife embedded itself in my side. My hastily cast shield charm saved me from whatever Rowle sent in my direction but I could barely stand the pain was so bad.

'SECTUMS-' Severus was cut off in his curse as a stunning spell hit him. He keeled over but the other Slytherins didn't notice as they began firing more and more knives at me. I barely avoided them and in doing so, rolled over and drove Avery's knife deeper inside me. My friends revealed themselves and a duel ensued. As each of the wizards and witches around me began to fire spells, I began to lift my own wand to my temple and pulled out my memory of this scene. I placed it in a bottle I'd hidden in my robes and turned my attention to the knife. To heal the wound, I would have to remove the knife but knew that would be too painful to do myself. I also wouldn't be able to heal it fast enough myself. Gathering my strength, I conjured Themis and sent her to fetch Madame Pomfrey.

James and Rowle it seemed had given up on wands and were wrestling with one another. Sirius and Peter were duelling with Mulciber whilst Marlene and Remus were against Avery. Alice was duelling Bulstrode and Mary struggled over to me. Severus lay unconscious on the ground.

'Babes, it's going to be okay.' She said in a slightly panicky voice.

'I've sent for Madame Pomfrey.' I gasped and propped myself against a wall. 'Shit.' I said as my insides seared with pain.

'I haven't got any painkiller.' Mary apologised but I waved her off. And then swore again as pain licked through my abdomen.

'I've had cramps worse than this.' I told her through gritted teeth.

'Why, Lily? Why?' She asked with a laugh. 'Only you would say that with a knife in you.'

'That's what makes me so awesome.' I answered with a small smile. It faded as I felt my skin rip itself and blood pour out of me. The pain was unbelievable and it filled my whole body. My eyes flickered shut as consciousness left me. I heard Mary shouting my name and someone shaking me as darkness closed around me. It seemed Severus hadn't been unconscious after all…

* * *

The first thing I noticed as my eyes opened was that the room I was in was extremely clean and that my entire body felt like it was filled with gigantic rocks. I struggled to move my head and get a good look at my surrounds. It soon became clear I was in the Hospital Wing and that it was daytime judging by the sunlight streaming through the window. The events before everything went black flooded into my mind and I looked beneath my sheets to see if the knife wound was still there. My stomach bore scars of the blade and then of Severus' spell. I pushed back my covers and attempted to climb out of bed. I staggered for a few steps and then fell with a thud as my legs gave way.

It was then I realised there had been someone snoozing by my bedside as they jerked awake at the sound of my fall. I attempted to pull myself back up using the bedframe but giant rocks were difficult to lift. Or so I thought, until a pair of strong arms lifted me back up and onto my bed. James.

'You're awake!' He cried out in relief and hugged me tightly. I winced and he let go at once. 'Sorry… I was just worried.'

'I told you she'd wake up.' Madame Pomfrey said bustling out of her office. 'Good to see you awake, Miss Evans.'

'Thanks.' I grinned at her. Then I turned to James. I saw at once that he had a black eye and his lip bore the unmistakable signs of one that had been bleeding. 'Why, James Harold Potter, did you decide that beating up Rowle was a good idea?'

'She's definitely awake.' James grumbled and laid himself down on my bed next to me. Cautiously, he put his arms around me and Madame Pomfrey collected something from one of the cabinets before returning to her office. 'So, dear, how are you?'

'Great.' I responded. 'I just love having a great oaf take up most of _my_ bed.'

'A handsome oaf.' He defended and kissed my neck. 'Besides, I'm keeping you warm.'

'I've got a blanket for that, Mr Potter.' But I snuggled into him nonetheless.

'I think we can both agree I'm far better looking than a blanket.' I could feel him smirking into my neck.

'I'll think about it.' I smiled to myself. 'That stubble makes you a contender for the carpet.'

'I do not have stubble!' James said indignantly.

'You need a shave.'

'Fine.' I knew he was scowling. 'Only if you do it for me.'

'I'm too invalid for that, I'm afraid.' I responded with my cheeks burning.

'What if you sit on my lap?' James asked cheekily.

'What if I stab you with the razer?' I answered sweetly. 'After all, I'm so injured my fingers might shake and poof! That's you dead.'

'Why are you so… you?' He asked and nuzzled into my neck as I closed my eyes contentedly. We drifted off to sleep and I dreamt of trimming moustaches.

* * *

The Slytherins involved in the attacks received varied punishments. Both Mulciber and Rowle were expelled but Avery, Bulstrode and Severus received detentions for the rest of the year and were banned from Hogsmeade weekends. Most students were annoyed about this verdict as they felt they should've all been expelled but there wasn't much they could do to change it. I got many students coming up to me and asking how my friends and I had caught them as did all of my mates. I usually just directed the admirers towards the Marauders, who enjoyed the attention, and was glad I was able to do so.

The Girls and I were currently in Charms, practicing a charm that turned apples into apple juice.

'Freya McMillan and Daniel Jackson are official now.' Mary informed us.

'Really?' Alice asked sceptically. 'Harriet Ross the second is in a relationship?'

'Yup.' Mary nodded knowingly. 'Though one of us predicted this at the start of the year.' All three of them looked at me smugly and I looked back confused.

'Did I?'

'Yes you did.' Marlene answered gleefully. 'Little Lily actually was right about something!'

'I take offence in that statement.' I said grumpily and turned my red apple into liquid.

'How come Lily gets congratulated for predicting a relationship and I didn't when in first year I said she'd end up with Potter?' Alice asked. Mary laughed.

'I think we all predicted that one.' She responded. Alice huffed irritably and charmed her apple into apple juice. It was then that I noticed something on her finger.

'Al…' I began slyly. 'There isn't anything _you_ want to tell us it there?' Her face suddenly split into a wide grin at my statement and I knew my suspicions are correct.

'What?' Marlene asked suspiciously.

'FRANK PROPOSED TO ME!' She burst out so loud that everyone in the class heard. I saw, with a small smile, that Frank's ears turned pink as Kieran, Ben and the Marauders began thumping him on the back.

'Congrats Al!' Marlene, Mary and I chorused and Alice hugged us.

'When's the wedding?' Mary asked excitedly and as the Girls began discussing weddings I knew life was back to normal.

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **I hope you liked that chapter. I think next chapter's going to be my last one in this story. Hit and Miss had honestly been one of the most tiring, stressful, time consuming and fun things I've ever done and I'm just happy I'm going to finish it. I've really enjoyed writing this story and I'll be sad that it's over. The reviewers of this story have honestly been awesome and when I've had writer's block, they've been the only thing that's kept me writing.**

 **I also want to quickly apologise for my atrocious spelling of Moony throughout this story. In the first chapter I mentioned that nickname I, I accidently spelled it as 'Mooney' and with my brilliant logic I was too lazy to change that one spelling, instead I opted for spelling it wrong for the rest of the story. Hehehe... Sorry.**

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	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53**

 **A/N: This is the very last chapter in this story. I think I'd like to write some more fanfiction in the future but I don't think there will be a sequel. Writing this has taught me a lot about writing and I hope my English teacher will appreciate it when we do fiction writing in class.**

 **I'm ending this now because if I'm honest had so much writers block recently I'm just glad I reached a kind of end point.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

 **Enjoy :)**

The last day of my seventh year arrived and the Girls and I walked into the Great Hall for our Leaver's Assembly. All our Professor were already seated in the Hall and we took seats as near the front as we could. Mary was already crying and Alice close to it. Marlene stared determinately at the chair before her and I struggled not to laugh. I really did love those three.

A squeeze of my shoulder told me the Marauders had seated themselves behind us and I turned to smile at them. I was about to say something when Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the 7th years.

'It has been a long journey to this day. 7 years in fact.' He beamed at all of us, his blue eyes twinkling. 'I remember when you were all 1st years and I remember your terrified faces as you saw the older students watching your Sorting Ceremony. It is strange to think how much you have all changed since that day but I, as an old man, have the habit for remembering you all in your most innocent stage of education. We didn't know then the academic geniuses we had amongst us, or the fashion icons, or the pranksters, or the loud and opinionated. Of course, during your seven years here we grew to know one another and such things came to light. Every one of you will go far and every one of you have the ability to do great things. Some of you will travel the world whilst other will stay here in Britain. But you will all have the chance to do what is right and what is incredible.'

Everyone clapped and I noticed the Marlene had a single, silent tear running down her cheek. I nudged her and she scowled back at me.

'And now, I think, a word from our Head boy and girl.' I looked at the Headmaster in surprise but stood up nonetheless. James and I made our way to the front and James spoke first.

'We did it!' He said with a grin and everyone cheered. 'We've done our NEWTS and got through the hours and hours of stress!' James paused for a moment. 'I'm not very good with speeches so I think it's best if our Head girl does the rest.' He winked at me as I stepped forwards with a slight scowl in his direction.

'We've accomplished a lot in our past few years. The possible. The impossible. If you don't think that's true then all I have to say is, I'm dating James Potter – you can't get much more impossible then that.' Several people laughed and others wolf-whistled. 'But we've done a lot more than just dating people. We've grown up. As Professor Dumbledore said, we were first years once and with some people that's easy to see but admittedly with me it's quite difficult. I'm practically the same height I was when I came here.' I heard Marlene snort extremely loudly. 'We've made lifelong friends and I personally have met some of the craziest people ever. I have had the best time of my life here and I can't imagine my life without Hogwarts but we'll all make it. We'll be the future of wizarding Britain and I bet we'll all be amazing.' I was surprised at how loudly people cheered. 'I'd like to thank our teachers for getting us here and teaching us everything.' The cheering grew in volume and I saw Professor McGonagall blow her nose. 'Thank you.' I smiled and people stood up as they applauded. James and I took our seats again and Professor Dumbledore returned to the front.

'You now have some time to say goodbye to your teachers.' Immediately, everyone stood up and I made a beeline for Professor McGonagall.

'Thank you, Professor.' I said as I reached her.

'I was nothing, Miss Evans.'

'Thank you for arranging my Healer training.'

'I'm just glad I could help. You are an extremely gifted witch, Miss Evans.' She looked at me fondly. 'I don't think I've ever met someone with such a connection to their magic.'

'Thank you…' I mumbled turning pink.

'If you don't believe me, Miss Evans, then conjure your patronus.' I frowned in confusion but conjured Themis nevertheless. Themis nudged me slightly and then focused on chewing some silvery grass.

'I don't understand.'

'Patronuses are for protection.' She began. 'They will only remain for as long as they are needed to protect you. Yours however, remains until you wish it to leave. You have befriended your magic and that is what allows you to master spells with such ease. You and your magic have a relationship that means you work together. You see your magic not as something you take for granted but as a friend that accompanies you everywhere. I've never met anyone like that so I'm honoured to have taught you.'

'I don't think I would've been as good if I didn't have you for a teacher.' If I had been embarrassed before, now I was practically wishing my own death. But I wanted to admit this. 'I know this sounds stupid, but I often idolise you. To me you've always been the pinnacle of magical ability and I remember in first year you were the only teacher who I respected straight from the start.'

'Thank you, Miss Evans. I'm glad to have taught you.' She smiled and I hugged her. Professor McGonagall seemed surprised but she patted me on the back before I excused myself. I walked to the side of the Great Hall and simply stood watching my friends talking to their teachers. We were leaving Hogwarts that afternoon. We were all going off into the big wide world. Was I ready for it? Not really. But I had the best friends in the world and we would stick together no matter what. I wasn't scared. I was excited.

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 **I hope you liked my story! I'm sorry this chapter was a lot shorter than the others but it just felt write to end the story here.**

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